A New Mystery
by AnonyMousing
Summary: "As for us, we were still talking about the "July Fourth tragedy" on the last day of summer vacation, when a new mystery rolled into town..." Veronica Lodge brought an ice to Riverdale that no-one was prepared for, but her twin sister Olivia... She brought a fire that was as much smoke and mystery as fiery embers, and if Jughead Jones wasn't careful, he'd be consumed by it.
1. Chapter One: I'm Coming Home

To the average random citizen on the street, Olivia was Veronica's mirror image, her carbon copy in every way that an identical twin should be; but a more practiced eye would quickly begin to see the subtle differences between the sisters. Where Veronica was all sharp edges, steel and iron and ice wrapped in a dainty silken package, Olivia was softer, there was more roundness in her face, more warmth, she was fire, fire and electricity and molten metal neatly wrapped in a velvet parcel. Both girls were born of Latin strength and hardened in the forge of their parents expectation, but they were opposites in as many ways as they were identical.

Stepping out of their town car onto the cold evening street in front of their new building, the first thing that struck Olivia Lodge about Riverdale was just how quiet the streets were. She had known that she was coming away from the hustle and bustle of New York, had known that the press of humanity and energy could not reach itself all the way into Riverdales sleepy borders, but she could never have imagined how the stillness could reach right into her, quieting some deep part of her that she hadn't known needed soothing.

As always Hermione Lodge soldiered forward, practically leaping from the car, almost manic in her determination to make the best of the situation;

"Now brace yourself." She chirped as she lead the twins up the front steps "The apartment's small, a pied-a-terre, - but 'quality, always.'"

"Quality, always." Olivia and Veronica joined in with their mother, in tune as always with her need to soothe their frazzled edges. They shared a knowing smile at Hermiones tone as they trooped after her into the foyer of their new home.

"Plus, it's the only piece of property in my name and not your father's." The fact that the twins were not immediately behind her or in hearing range did nothing to dampen her spirit.

"Ms. Hermione! Welcome home!" An aging doorman greeted their mother, Olivia immediately liked him, he was all crinkled skin and warm eyes, someone to trust, she decided, her mother clearly felt the same way.

"Smithers! Oh, you are a sight for sore eyes."

'How was the ride?"

"No traffic, thank God." Suddenly Hermione seemed to remember that she had children in tow; "Smithers, I'd like to introduce you to my daughters, Veronica and Olivia" The twins mother gestured to them with an open hand. 

"It's a pleasure, Miss Veronica, Miss Olivia"

"Hi!" Olivia echoed her sister, taking in the small but comfortable foyer.

"I'll get the bags." Smithers said from behind her, Olivia heard her mother reply, but she passed through the door of their new home and the tangle of voices in the foyer became background noise. The apartment was like a miniature of their home in New York, definitely a lot smaller but still decorated tastefully, lavishly even.

"It will do." She decided, speaking out loud to the empty room.

"Glad it meets your absurdly high standards, Liv" Veronica sniped good-naturedly as she swanned into the room behind her. "Personally, I would have preferred something a little less Downton Abbey and a little more Monte Carlo Baby, but that's just me."

Olivia opened her mouth to sass her sister back when Hermione swept into the room, ' _She may have lost her millions but she'll never lose her flair for the dramatic'_ she thought wryly as she watched her mother deposit herself dramatically onto the chaise.

"I've called an order into Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe, be a dear, Veronica, and go fetch it for you poor, road-weary mother?"

"What?!" Veronica squawked in outrage, "Why do I have to go on my own?" Hermione's eyes narrowed, fixing her daughter with a hawk-like glare.

"Because I am exhausted and your sister is far too fragile to go out into the cold and rain. Don't make a scene Ronnie, not tonight."

"Mom!" Olivia interjected, her mood a mirror of her twins "I'm fine, don't make Ronnie go alone, we'll go together." Seeing her mother about to interject once more she cut her off "It'll be safer! Just let me grab my coat." Sensing defeat, Hermione lay her head back against the sofa;

"Fine, but take gloves too." 

Reclining back onto Ronnie's overstuffed duvet, comfortably full of burger and onion rings, Liv was happy to listen Veronica chatter away about the redhead they'd met at the diner earlier that night.

"I mean, honestly, Cosmo can talk about the merits of a simple country farm-boy on every page but until you catch one blushing at you across a backwater diner you just can't truly appreciate the charm they can have." Ronnie was sitting at her dresser, brushing her hair in the mirror, the glasses she would only ever wear in private perched on the end of her button nose.

"Personally, you can keep your hick farmboys, you know I prefer them dark, brooding and mysterious." Liv winked at her sister over her shoulder in the mirror as she scooted off the bed. "I'm going to bed to dream of Edward Cullen, I could not stand the shame of baggy undereyes on my first day at Riverdale High." Olivia stood off of the bed, stretching languorously in the process, she could feel Ronnies sharp eyes on her so she took her time crossing the room, as she passed behind the vanity her twin caught her by the wrist, turning to face her;

"Liv, that crap Mom said tonight, about you being fragile…" She started hesitantly.

"Don't worry V" Olivia replied "I know not to take it personally, you know me, fighting fit, but Mom will always see me as her fragile baby, I know you don't feel the same." Veronica looked relieved that her sister had said what she was scared to, criticizing their mother came easier to Olivia than it did to Ronnie.

"Love you, Liv"

"Love you too Ronnie, sleep well."


	2. Chapter Two: Newly Familiar

Liv was awake early the next morning, a combination of the strange room and the pressure of first impressions she told herself sensibly as she padded quietly down the hall into the bathroom. Standing under the faucet however, Olivia probed the deeper truth of her early morning energy; there was something about this sleepy little town, so far away from everything she had ever known, something that brought her alive with the promise of possibility.

Standing before the mirror in her room she took stock of her appearance; neat pencil skirt and silver-grey blouse, a little safe but clean cut and obviously expensive; feeling slightly rebellious she slid her feet into a pair of trim emerald green pumps, a dash of colour against a somewhat dull background. Now for her favourite part, her hair. Sick of being mistaken for Ronnie by the sycophants at their exclusive New York high school, Olivia had long since grown her own Ebony hair past their iconic shoulder length cut. Liv's hair now cascaded down her back, twisting lazily into loose curls, it was her pride and joy, the one way in which her and Ronnie were obviously different. She loosened it from the braid she had slept in and after a few quick passes with the brush it sat perfectly, the Riverdale air was obviously already agreeing with her.

"Pills, Mija" Hermione passed the door of her room on her way to the kitchen, barely pausing to deliver her order as she went. Olivia pulled a face at herself in the mirror before snagging her overnight bag from beside the bed and pulling out an assortment of pill bottles. It was a sore spot for her family, the Epilepsy that had plagued her since birth, it was manageable now, so long as she remembered the fistful of pharmaceuticals she had to take before breakfast every morning.

-

"So, I usually start off my tours with a little history and context." Olivia liked Betty in as much of a way as a cat can like a dog, Betty reminded her of a Golden Retriever, brimming with positive energy and a zeal for the environment around her, "Riverdale High first opened its doors in 1941…"

"And hasn't been redecorated since, apparently." Olivia interjected, her words snarky but her tone letting her peers in on the joke, "Honestly, I feel like I'm wandering through the lost epilogue of Our Town." Ronnie chuckled along with her before changing the topics to far more 'Ronnie-adjacent' topics:

"So what's the social scene like here? Any night clubs?"

"A strip club called the Ho Zone and a tragic gay bar called Innuendo." A tall sandy blonde headed guy interjected from behind them, falling easily into their conversation "Friday nights: football games and then tailgate parties at the Mallmart parking lot. Saturday night is movie night, regardless of what's playing at the Bijou, and you better get there early, because we don't have reserved seating in Riverdale and Sunday nights Thank God for HBO."

"Veronica and Olivia Lodge, Kevin Keller, the twin's are new here. Kevin is – "

"-gay, thank God. Let's be best friends."

"Is it true what they say about your dad?"

"That he's the devil incarnate? I stand by my father, we both do… Does everyone here know? Wonderful. Ten minutes in and we're already the Blue Jasmines of Riverdale High." Liv winced at this, their father was a sore spot for her, maybe even more so than it was for Veronica, she immediately started searching out an escape which appeared blissfully quickly as they passed the library.

"V" Olivia cut into the conversation "I'll meet you in homeroom, I just wanna check out the library real quick"

"Are you sure?" Ronnie replied, pausing to turn and face her, "How will you find the room without Betty?" Liv laughed at her sister, shooing her along with a hand;

"We have a map in our welcome packs, duh. I'll be fine, go, have fun!" Veronica seemed satisfied with this answer, and flashed her one last smile before she turned to join Kevin and Betty who were eyeing Olivia curiously. She flashed them a pearly grin and then turned into the library, the familiar smell of old books welcoming her with open arms.

The library was a little cramped and a little dusty, but blessedly empty at this early hour and the fiction section was a handful of aisles long and filled with names she hadn't read yet. Olivia started to turn down the first one when she realized that her initial observation wasn't correct, she wasn't entirely alone, a tall boy was cramped into an armchair at the end of the aisle she had turned down, entirely focused on whatever he was typing away at on his somewhat battered laptop. He looked up for the briefest moment, flicking a dismissive glance her way, just a flash of eyes the colour of sunlit waves. Liv flashed him a quick smile but he had already tucked his chin back to his chest, his face obscured once more by a tangle of midnight curls and a beanie oddly shaped like a crown. Not about to interrupt someone on her very first day, Olivia steered past him, settling into the second aisle of the fiction section, almost immediately completely absorbed by the new titles.

-

Jughead Jones' initial reaction to any human invading his space unannounced was always annoyance, regardless of who it was. This morning was no exception, the first day back at Riverdale High was historically not his most cherished moment of the school calendar and having anyone interrupt one of his few quiet moments, even an adorable Latina girl with eyes like sunshine and a perfect smile. He paused in his typing just long enough to spot a pair of emerald green heels in the next row over before he recommenced determinedly hammering away at the keys of his laptop.

-

"Liv? Liv, hello? Liv?!" Olivia jerked her head out of the fantasy epic she was buried in, meeting Ronnies eyes over the top of the pages.

"Geez V, what the heck?" She blinked up at her twin, noting the telltale signs in the crease between her brows and the wideness of her eyes that meant Veronica had been trying to talk to her.

"Dress shopping? Tonight? For the dance with Betty and I?" Ronnie shared an exasperated glance with Betty, they were already the best of friends, in their matching cheerleading uniforms, which was of no surprise to Olivia, her twin had the lions share of their congeniality.

"Sure, sounds great! What's the shopping like in Riverdale Betty?" Liv resignedly dog-eared the novel and set it down.

"I mean, it's no New York, but I'm sure we'll find something perfect for all of us!" Betty was unfailingly chipper, it was easy to allow herself to be swept up in the simple pleasures of a high school dance, dresses, shoes, accessories, gossip; it was a pattern that came easily to the Lodge twins, it had been a pillar of their lives in New York and it was a familiar routine to slip back into, to ground Olivia in her first week at their new school.


	3. Chapter Three: Not The Met Ball

Olivia had a feeling that no matter how long she spent with Veronica, she would never stop being vaguely afraid of her when she became obsessed with something and this time was no exception. For the past couple of days Veronica had been laser focused on the upcoming school dance or as she was calling it, rather pompously in Olivias opinion not that she would dare say anything, their 'Riverdale debut'.

The morning of the dance Ronnie was a whirlwind, laying out her and Olivias dresses for a quick dryclean and press while they were at school, making sure their shoes were clean and glossy and ensuring that their lipstick selection was plentiful enough before finally sweeping into the kitchen where Olivia was finishing her coffee and reading a well-thumbed copy of Harry Potter.

"Did you confirm our booking with the makeup artist?" Ronnie asked by way of greeting as she sat opposite her twin "And the hairstylist, the dry cleaners and the manicurist?" Veronica helped herself to the pot of coffee on the table.

"Good morning to you too, darling twin of mine" Liv replied, eyeing her twin with a mixture of trepidation and amusement, "I have indeed ploughed through the list of chores you left for me this morning, yes, have you had breakfast, or are you just going to subsist on black coffee and mania today?"

Ronnie leant back on her chair, regarding Liv with a wry smile and a raised brow, "Oh har, har. If you were half as funny as you think you are you might make some money from it." Veronica took a deep swig of her coffee and sighed in content, "There's hardly time to eat, Livvie, unfortunately we still have school to attend." Right on schedule they heard the telltale honking of Smithers bringing the car to the lobby of the building.

.

Their teachers put up a valiant effort that day, but it was obvious that they were fighting a losing battle with the excitement in the air of the dance later that evening. By the time lunch rolled around, most of their teachers had all but given up. Liv had just left a particularly enjoyable English class in which they had simply been assigned the task to 'read something and try to keep the volume to a dull roar' as she strolled across the lawn to join Ronnie who was sitting at a table with Betty and Kevin.

"…definitely singing." Veronica was saying as Liv sat down beside Betty, opposite her.

"But you're a cheerleader, is dancing not your forte?" Kevin asked incredulously through a mouthful of sandwich.

"Ew Kev, first of all swallow first" Ronnie teased "And also, of course my dance skills are mad good, but your question was if I could only do one for the rest of my life. I have the voice of an angel, it's Liv who's the dance prodigy."

Olivia was suddenly the object of three very curious gazes, she peeked up from the salad she had just opened.

"Why the surprise? V's the only one who can be mad talented?" She chuckled "Also, it's not really dance, I was a gymnast who occasionally competed in rhythmic competitions."

"Pfft, po-tay-to, po-tah-toe, Livvie, the point is you're mad good." Veronica punctuated her point with a mouthful of salad.

"Your parents didn't want you to sing too, Olivia?" Betty asked, her voice the trademark B mixture of politeness and curiosity.

Olivia laughed out loud then, genuine mirth bubbling from her lips. "Oh, they wanted me to, more than anything. But unfortunately, where V is a Nightingale, I am a Seagull." Ronnie joined her laughing and soon Kevin and Betty were laughing along with them.

.

"Well, it's not the Met Ball…" Olivia's voice lacked the necessary snark to truly deliver any sting with her words. It was clear she was in her element, in a tight, long sleeved nude dress and matching nude pumps, 'very Kylie Jenner at the Met Ball' V had said with a nod of approval as they left the house earlier.

"When do you have to let Coach Clayton - know about football?" Betty was, as always, more focused on Archie than on anything or anyone else around her. Olivia caught Veronicas eye and rolled hers at her before sharing a smirk with her twin.

"This weekend." Archie replied, completely oblivious to any subtext to Betty's words.

"Guys, can't we just liberate ourselves from the tired dichotomy of jock/artist? Can't we, in this post James Franco world, be all things at once?" Ronnie burst out, clearly frustrated by Betty's complete inability to flirt in any way. 

"I've been working on it, Veronica." Archie replied, a sigh in his voice.

"Work faster. We're getting punch." Olivia said to Archie, slipping her hand into Ronnies and towing her past Betty towards the refreshment table. "You got this." V whispered to Betty as they slipped past her.

"So…" Ronnie said to Olivia as they filled cups with punch "That's my plans with the red-haired Romeo scuppered, please tell me you are doing better on the beau front? Some long-haired laureate in your English class perhaps?" 

Olivia snorted into her punch, a habit that would have Hermione having kittens if she had seen it. "Nothing to report I'm afraid, I spotted a tall, dark mystery in the library on our first day but seeing as I haven't seen him since I'm assuming that the only good looking guy at this school is actually just a ghost of good things past." Ronnie chuckled appreciatively as Cheryl Blossom climbed onto the stage and grasped the microphone.

"Good evening, friends. Are you all having a good time? As honorary chairperson and de facto queen of tonight's semiformal, it is my great pleasure to introduce this evening's main entertainment. To know them is to be obsessed with them. Though they usually perform their own material, tonight, they're making an exception and debuting a cover of the song my parents claim they were listening to the night Jason and I were conceived. This one's for you, JJ. I give you Josie and the Pussycats."

"Wanna dance?" Kevin appeared next to Ronnie, offering her his arm with a significant glance to where Archie and Betty were dancing together.

"Meddling calls." Veronica said to Olivia with a wink "Care to join?"

"Firm pass from me" Liv giggled, "I'm going to take this punch for a walk and see if I can't suss out the missing Cullen brother from the library." Ronnie and Kevin disappeared into the crowd, making a beeline for where Betty and Archie were swaying together and Liv sighed leaning back against the table. She hadn't said anything to Veronica but truthfully she wasn't feeling great, her heart was beating faster and her vision was slightly fuzzy around the edges, and… was it hot in here? Suddenly she was panicking…..


	4. Chapter Four: Olivia, Olivia Lodge

Olivia felt an all too familiar wave of cold sweep over her body, her vision narrowed to a pinpoint with a speed that left her clammy and sweaty; she took a deep steadying breath and with a great deal of focus forced herself back to normal. It was all the flashing lights, the heat of the gymnasium, she told herself, but… Had she taken her pills this morning? In all of Ronnie's hustle and bustle of dance prep she couldn't remember, she heard an echo of her Neurologists voice, the words ' _Breakthrough seizures'_ ringing in her ears.

"Fresh air" She muttered to anyone who was close enough to have noticed her acting weirdly as she nudged her way out of the crowd into the parking lot. It had been a while since Olivia had had a seizure, a careful balance of medication and her parents watchful eyes had made sure of that, but not so long that she didn't know what to do, she knew she needed somewhere safe, populated and cool and she needed it fast. Her vision narrowed to a point again and through it she could just make out a stuttering red neon light; " **Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe** "

-

For Jughead the idea of a school dance represented a unique kind of personal torture and as such he tended to keep a fair distance from them. The nights of dances at Riverdale High usually meant nothing more to Jughead than a particularly empty Pop's and then a quick getaway to avoid the crush and ruckus of drunken afterparties, his peers often choosing Pop's as a convenient pitstop on their way home from whatever lascivious rites of passage that the teenagers of Riverdale seemed to have a more than temporary obsession with. But life has a way of bringing surprises to even the most mundane, run of the mill traditions and tonight, it would seem, would be anything but normal.

Jughead had been bent over his laptop for hours when a prickling at the back of his neck caused him to lift his head, stretching it first one way and then another, it was only because of this momentary break that Jughead happened to be looking out of the window as a petite girl in a delicate beige dress staggered onto the edge of the parking lot and promptly crumpled into a pile. Jughead was frozen, it could only have been for a moment but it felt like an eternity as he watched her small frame suddenly wracked by spasms. FP keeping the company that he did, Jughead had witnessed his share of drug overdoses in his life, enough at least to recognize a seizure when he saw one and in moments he was tearing out of the door of the diner, sliding to his knees beside her prone body.

He knew that the number one cardinal sin with seizure response was to move the patient in any way but he couldn't stand seeing the sharp gravel biting into her vulnerable, exposed skin so he heaved her tense body onto his lap, protecting her head and shoulders from the gravel and the cold night. Jughead looked on helplessly as her lips faded to blue and her eyes rolled beneath their lids when suddenly she went limp, the seizure finally passing. He shrugged his denim and sheepskin jacket off, and laid it over her chest and shoulders. She was so still then, her breast barely rising and falling, but he felt for a pulse in her wrist and found it was slowly steadying. As the danger passed Jughead finally took a good look at the girl tucked across his lap, he vaguely recognized her as the cute girl who had stumbled upon him in the library earlier in the week. The wind blew a lock of raven hair across her face and as Jughead reached down to smooth it down she awoke with a start, wild eyes racing around until they locked on Jugheads face, there was a flicker of recognition in them and she relaxed, her mouth forming words he couldn't quite hear. He tilted an ear close enough that he heard her speak:

"If you tell anyone about this I will kill you, if my parents find out my life will not be worth living."

Jughead choked out a surprised laugh in response, it was the last thing he had expected to rasp from between her lips. He took a moment to tuck his jacket more firmly over her chest, painfully aware now that he had strayed from the comforting warmth of Pops, of how chilly the night was becoming, before he looked at her face, her eyes were closed again but her breathing was deeper, steadier, stronger.

"Well if you're hoping to keep this a secret, we should probably move you from the ground here, nothing says 'call my parents' like laying in a strangers lap in a diner parking lot." He was treated to a tiny smile at that, just the hint of a curve at the left corner of her mouth.

"I should probably give it a minute before I call my driver, if I can't boss him around he'll know something's up." Her eyes opened then, the colour of rich amber or dark honey, humour sparked in them, but behind that Jughead could see that she was shaken, disoriented and not a little afraid.

"Well, in the meantime lets get you inside into the warm, his town has probably had enough dead teenagers for the time being and personally I'm not a fan of mind-numbing paperwork. Can you stand?"

"Not for long, so you're gonna have to give me a hand, hero." She was shaking, whether from the cold or the aftermath of the seizure, he couldn't tell, but he took it slow, easing her first into a sitting position and then taking her hands and lifting her to stand. Jughead took the bulk of the weight off her feet as it became immediately apparent that she wasn't strong enough to and half carried her to the entrance of Pop's, depositing her not ungently into his booth, opposite to where he had been sitting when he first noticed her.

Her eyes were trained on the parking lot, her face still pale and her hair a little mussed but Jughead couldn't help but notice that she held herself proudly, straight-backed even though he could tell it cost her to even be sitting upright, she radiated a strength of spirit that didn't often find itself treading the hallways of Riverdale High.

"I didn't catch your name Shorty." She flinched a little at his voice and when she looked at him he could see she was still disoriented and not a little uncomfortable. "You look like you could do with getting home and into bed, did you want to call your driver?"

Liv could hear the sarcasm in his voice, just the tiniest bit, lacing his words as he shifted his attention back to the laptop she assumed he had abandoned to come to her aid. She took a moment then to look at him, to really look at him for the first time, her reluctant rescuer. Delicate shadows feathered the skin beneath his eyes, that same crown shaped beanie she had seen him wearing in the library still held all but the most rebellious of his dark curls in check, the few that had escaped spilled across his forehead, framing his face. He was handsome, she mused to herself, as she turned her gaze to her clutch and rummaged for her phone, but he was also the kind of mysterious that she knew was almost always synonymous with trouble.

She watched Smithers peel into the parking lot a few minutes later, Jughead's attention long since had turned back to his laptop and stood, offering her hand to him in the process.

"Thankyou, for your help and your silence. "

He took her hand bemusedly in his, reminded again that she was no Riverdale regular.

"My name's Olivia by the way, Olivia Lodge." She swept out of the booth, to her credit, only wobbling the once and made her way determinedly out of the shop, flashing Pop a charming smile as she passed him.

"I'm Jughead" he called to her as she reached the door "Jughead Jones III" he was treated to a full smile then, a wry twisting of her lips, and then she was gone, leaving him to ponder her.

"Olivia Lodge" He murmured to himself as he settled back into the booth "You, are trouble…."


	5. Chapter Five: Caramel Shake Extra Cherry

Hermione Lodge might have been fooled when Olivia pled menstrual cramps to get out of going to school the next day but Veronica certainly wasn't, her loyalty to her twin stretched far enough to refuse to out her to her mom, but not far enough to not stomp into her room as soon as her mom mentioned that Liv wouldn't be joining her at school that morning.

"We had our period two weeks ago Pinnochi-hoe, what gives?!" she whispered harshly as she climbed onto Olivia's king bed and dug through the piles of duck-down and Egyptian silk to locate her sister. Before Liv could answer or even stir properly though Ronnie uncovered her twin and even through the swathe of her ebony silk hair she could see the grazes and bruises on the backs of her shoulders. "Olivia!" Her tone was harsh but her touch was gentle as she stroked light fingers over her stirring sisters back "Why didn't you call me?!"

"I'm fine you lunatic, I just missed my meds yesterday in hurricane Veronica and had a little breakthrough seizure." Liv rolled over to face her twin "Not to worry though, tall, dark and handsome was nearby to rush to my rescue, I couldn't have planned it"

Ronnie searched her sisters face for a long moment, she was a little pale and the skin beneath her eyes was heavy with lavender exhaustion, but there was a twinkle in her eye and the smirk that twisted her lips made it obvious that she was well enough to gossip at least. "Ooh, your Rhysand-lookalike from the library? Do tell." She settled herself onto Olivias overstuffed pillows, satisfied for the moment that her sister was fine save for needing a lot more sleep.

"His name is Jughead, can you believe? Mom is going to fuh-reak. But he's a writer, he didn't stare at my breasts and he has dimples that you could swim in." She smiled at Ronnie's contemplative look, the tiny wrinkle between her brows telegraphing that she was already considering who she could ask for more information.

"Worth a minute of your time for sure, I'll send out some delicate enquiries today and update you with the latest. In the meantime I suppose I'd better be getting ready for school, get plenty of sleep and then maybe a milkshake, I'll mention to Smithers." And with that she bounced off the bed and out of the door, pausing only to blow a kiss as she disappeared.

.

"So, wait, where is Olivia?" Betty and Ronnies Science class was almost over by the time Betty finally cracked and spoke to Ronnie, apparently being mad at her didn't extend to concern for others and Veronica felt a flash of affection for her friend…. Enemy? She didn't know what they were in that moment but she pushed that aside for a second.

"Liv is a little sick, she…. She has these seizure's sometimes, I guess she missed her meds yesterday and she had a little episode. Not to worry though, she's getting the best possible care at home and will be back before you know it!" Betty opened her mouth and looked like she was going to reply but in that instant the bell rang and she stood abruptly and left the classroom and Ronnie behind. Veronica made to follow but a hand appeared on her shoulder, pausing her efforts to chase after Betty.

Jughead had overheard Betty and Veronica talking in the row in front of him and against his better judgement, before he could second guess himself he was reaching out, tapping Veronica on the shoulder. He could see she was curious as she turned to face him, this was the first time he had ever spoken to her so he couldn't blame her, but when she smiled a knowing smile at him, her lips curving into her Cheshire cat grin, he immediately felt nervous.

"Hey, Veronica right? I didn't mean to eavesdrop but…"

"So…" Ronnie cut him off, still smirking at him, "You're the handsome hero who I have to thank for rushing to my sisters aide last night." Jughead was caught offguard, how had she known?

"I… Uh, I was there when Olivia was sick last night, if that's what you mean? How did you…?"

"Twin-tuition Casanova. So, I guess I owe you my gratitude." Ronnie crossed her arms, smiling in a far too knowing way for Jugheads liking, like she somehow knew that he hadn't managed to write another word last night until Olivias Lavender-Vanilla scent had finally faded from his booth.

"You don't owe me anything, just wanted to check that she's doing ok today, is it normal for her to miss school after…. You know?" Ronnie's smile widened to a dazzling grin then and Jughead couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

"Your concern is appreciated… Er, Jughead, right? Livvie is fine, she usually just needs a lot of sleep, she'll be back before you know it, but in the meantime I'll pass along your regards and concerns."

"No!" Jughead exclaimed "No need, I just wanted to check…." But Veronica Lodge was gone, swishing around the corner of lab and leaving Jughead alone, feeling foolish and a little embarrassed. He swung his backpack more firmly between his shouldered blades moodily and stomped out of the classroom, lecturing himself on the meaning of 'low-profile' and wondering idly how exactly Veronica had known his name.

.

By the time Olivia woke a second time the sun was slanting through the windows on the opposite side of the room than it was during Veronicas morning visit. She reached out for her phone on the nightstand, smiling as her hand grazed a takeaway cup from Pops that had been set beside it. She sat up and clicked open her phone, took a deep, appreciative slurp of her milkshake (caramel, her favourite, thanks Ronnie) and opened her text inbox that flashed with 5 new messages.

 _ **"Hope you feel better soon! – Betty"**_

 _ **"Ronnie tells us there's gossip abounds, come back soon I'm dying to hear! – Kev"  
**_ **  
**The rest, predictably were from Ronnie.

 _"_ _ **Ooooh! He is cute, even by my 'jock-boy, muscle-man' standards!"**_ ****

 _ **"He asked about you BTW, after science, will dish all tonight**_ **"**

 _ **"Can't believe you're practically dating a member of My Chemical Romance"**_ ****

Liv snorted in response to Ronnies last text and quickly thumbed out a response:

 _"_ _ **A wordsmith as always V, we are not dating BTW….. But what exactly did he say to you?"**_ ****

She knew this would bring a smile to Ronnie's face, what she hadn't expected was that she would see it so soon. Her twin swept into her room only moments later.

"V! I hadn't realized how late it is, I thought you were still at school!"

"The sun is practically down sleeping beauty" Ronnie settled herself onto the pile of pillows she vacated to go to school that morning. "Besides, who else would know to bring you a caramel shake, extra ice-cream, double cherries?" She grimaced in mock-hurt and then immediately grinned at her. "So… Jughead…" There was nothing in this world that Ronnie delighted more in than gossip, particularly the kind that involved either her or her sister and she relished in rehashing every detail more than once. Olivia lay back into the pillows, soothed by Veronicas voice telling her in no uncertain terms how besotted Jughead Jones was with her. Olivia privately disagreed with Ronnie, although she couldn't deny that she didn't hate the ideas of a flirtation with the dark-haired stranger.

.

She opened her laptop for the first time since moving to Riverdale that night, logging into Facebook she was pleased to see a handful of friend requests and messages, some were expected like Betty Cooper and Kevin Keller, some less so like Archie Andrews and Moose Mason, but only one made her really smile:

" _ **Jughead Jones III sent you a Friend Request"**_

The time stamp was from almost two hours earlier so she figured she could accept it without looking too keen. She clicked onto his profile, having a cursory browse over his featured photos and relationship status, 'single' not that she was really looking of course, before hovering over the 'send message' tab. Her heart beat a little faster with the potential of the moment. She clicked on it and was thrilled to see the '...' already floating in the text box, indicating that Jughead had been thinking the same way that she was.

 **"** _ **Glad you're doing ok, shorty"**_

It was simple, to the point and she could practically hear the hint of sarcasm in his voice when he said it, it was pure Jughead, and she was grateful for it.

 **"** _ **All thanks to you Jonesy, who knows how many nails I could have broken if you hadn't come rushing to my rescue"**_

The '...' flashed on and then stopped. Olivia caught herself waiting for him to reply and shook her head, 'Lodges don't wait' she thought to herself before taking herself off for a long bath with her favourite lavender and vanilla bath bomb.

When she finally reappeared she was pleased to see not one, but two messages waiting for her, spaced twenty minutes apart, like he'd been waiting for her.

" _ **How could you possibly have survived the horror?"**_

And then;

 _ **"Jonesy, huh? I don't hate that which is a miracle in itself"**_

Olivia smirked to herself, pleased with his bantering tone.

 **"** _ **I'll have to buy you a milkshake one night to thank you for sparing me the psychological damage. Jonesy it is then."**_

Her smirk turned to a grin as the telltale dots reappeared on the screen.

 **"** _ **Strawberry, extra cream. Not to be predictable but Pop's is my usual haunt, mi casa es su casa"**_

 ****Jughead Jones wasn't sure what had come over him, but as he sat in his booth at Pop's diner, all pretence of writing his novel gone until the three flashing dots on his screen revealed Olivia's next words, he realised he didn't care. For the first time in a long time he felt alive, not just part of the pages.

 **"** _ **Maybe we'll run into each other there, maybe on Friday night? Goodnight Jonesy"**_

His dimples appeared then, just a flash and then they were gone.

 **"** _ **Sweet dreams, Shorty."**_


	6. Chapter Six: Cool Tricks

True to Ronnie's prediction Olivia was well enough to return to school on Wednesday, the circles around her eyes had faded and the gravel rash on her shoulders was nothing more than shiny pink skin, though she wore a cashmere sweater to cover the lingering marks just in case. Usually Livs first day back after an episode was a lesson in torture, whispers followed her down every hallway and curious eyes found her no matter where she hid, even V's position as Queen Bee couldn't protect her, though she shuddered to think of how things could have been without her. Riverdale, however could not have been more different, it was hard to compete when the entire student body was fixated on the recent gruesome torture/murder of one of their peers. No-one seemed to have even noticed she was gone, no-one but Jughead.

It was her free period after lunch, Ronnie and Betty had River Vixen rehearsals so Liv had a blessed quiet moment to slip off to the library. She wandered the aisles, searching for something she hadn't read, something that grabbed her attention, but unfortunately though it had seemed to be well stocked on her first day, Olivia quickly realized that most of the offerings of the library were the kind of watered-down, PG novels stocked by most schools across the country.

"You know there's a bookstore downtown if you find yourself in need of new books to abuse." A voice said from behind her as she struggled to replace a particularly dull-sounding title with perhaps slightly more force than was necessary. Liv spun on the spot almost toppling over as her red sandal got caught in the strap of her Hermes handbag which she had left on the ground, she would have fallen right into the shelf if her companion hadn't caught her by the shoulder as she passed him.

"That makes it twice that I've basically saved your life now, you realize?" Jughead snarked, a smirk twisting his lips.

"I'll be sure to have your name tattooed on the small of my back in gratitude" Olivia sniped back companionably, shaking her bag off of her foot and picking it up.

"The day you get a tattoo is the day I eat my beanie" Jughead replied, grinning now.

"I happen to already have a tattoo" she said, her lips pursed primly.

"Bullshit" Jughead replied, his tone cocky but his eyes curious, she was a mystery to him and he was frustrated to admit that reading her was a challenge.

"It absolutely is not!" She sniped back. "Me and Ronnie both got one in Ibiza on a dare two summers ago"

"Show me then" he challenged her, smirking now.

"It's not in a place I usually share with casual companions, Jonesy, play your cards right and maybe one day I will" there was fire in her eyes as she spoke, but not the kind designed to frighten, the kind designed to kindle something low in his stomach. She sassed past him, twitching her hips playfully.

"It's about time someone shut you up" she called over her shoulder cutting the silence she had left in her wake.

Jughead turned to watch her go, vaguely aware of that fact that he was sinking fast into the tidal wave that was Olivia Lodge, particularly when her mischievous pixie face reappeared around the shelves. "Are you gonna show me this bookstore or not?" Her voice betrayed her laughter and Jughead tried not to look too eager as he readjusted his backpack and followed her out of the library.

.

"I gotta say, cutting last period with one of the Lodge twins was not how I thought today was going to go." Jughead said as they wandered companionably though Riverdales streets, quiet at this time of the day.

"We Lodges do live to surprise." Olivia replied, stepping up onto the low brick retaining wall of the park they were passing, walking it like a tightrope. Jughead paused to watch her for a moment before following, catching up to her and walking along side her.

"Archie says you're a gymnastics prodigy, is that just talk or do you know some cool tricks?" Liv couldn't see his face but she could hear the smile in his voice and without looking at him she thrust her handbag into his chest and hitched her skirt up, just a little bit so that she could bend her hips. She took two deep breaths, one to steady and one to calm and then leapt into action, performing a complex but controlled set of flips ending with a triple axel spin that landed her with a tiny wobble on the pavement in front of a gaping Jughead.

"That was the final movement of Oksana Omelianchik's routine from the 1986 World Sports Fair, or at least as much of it as I can perform in a pencil skirt, would you consider that a 'cool trick'?" Olivia asked, smiling sweetly up at him, humour causing her eyes to glitter. Jughead gaped at her for only a moment more before a smirk twisted his lips.

"Bit of a wobble on the landing, I give it a 6." He was clearly trying not to laugh and gave in to his mirth when Olivia snatched her handbag back from him and hit him over the shoulder with it. "Hey! Aggression towards the judges is an immediate disqualification!" Liv laughed, hitting him once more for good measure before shouldering her bag and continuing down the street, still giggling.

"Why were you in the library, by the way? Stalking me?" Her cheeks were flushed pink as she looked at him, causing Jughead to lose his train of thought momentarily.

"Stalking you? Hardly, I'm a busy man, I have business all over Riverdale High." Olivia cut him a look, her eyebrow raised coolly. He sighed as they turned a corner and pushed his curls off of his forehead. "I wasn't stalking you, I just happened to pass the library as you went in and thought…. I just wanted to make sure you were ok, I know I usually come across as a cool, collected kind of guys but it's not every day that I rescue a damsel in a parking lot."

Liv snorted at that, particularly unladylike given the present company, but in all honestly the crassness of the sound only made Jughead like her more. "It was hardly a rescue" She sassed at him "I've had worse than a couple of broken nails and some grazed shoulders" He fell quiet so she chanced a look at him and wished she hadn't. "Don't look at me like that, Jonesy." All humour had left her voice.

"Like what?" He replied, surprised at the sudden change of her mood.

"Like I'm some kind of fragile creature in need of protection!" This was clearly a subject that rankled "It was a couple of grazes, lighten up!" She stormed off down the street, her hair swishing aggressively from side to side.

She was tougher than her glossy heels and manicured fingers would have you think, he realized as he followed after her. "You know the escape act would be a lot more effective if you were faster, shorty" He said, easily catching up to her and nudging her shoulder with his companionably. She stared determinedly ahead, her chin high. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" He said, trying not to laugh, she did look awfully cute and he was certain that pointing that out would end in severe bodily harm. "I promise to never treat you like a china doll, on pain of death which I'm sure you'd take great pleasure in dealing out." Her lips finally twisted then, just a hint of a smile, but he'd take it.

"Is the bookstore close?" She asked, her smile spreading.

"We just passed it" He smirked at her. "Placating you seemed more important than pointing it out."

Jughead left her at the bookstore, claiming he had to get to work at the drive-in, Olivia didn't mind, browsing a new bookstore was likely to take some time, especially as she'd just spotted a ' **HELP WANTED** ' sign above the counter.

.

Olivia was pretty confident that she would be the first home, her mother was working late at the diner and Ronnie was almost certainly still at school with Betty and Kevin. Even so, she slipped in through the front door as quietly as she could manage and slipped her sandals off before she wandered down the hall to her bedroom.

"Care to explain you filthy little stop-out?" Veronicas voice cut through the silence like an amused whip, causing Liv to squeal and dropped her bag from the bookstore.

"Ronnie, you sociopath, you scared the hell out of me!" Olivia gasped, clutching at her chest.

"Oh don't give me that, my sources have you sneaking out of the school with one Jughead Jones before the start of last period today!"

Liv paused in her gathering of her books to arch an eyebrow at her twin who stretched languorously across her comforter "Sources huh, Lois Lane?"

"Well, Kevin, he was on his way to the little boys room and saw the two of you skipping hand in hand out of the front door." Ronnie smiled at her sweetly.

"For starters I don't think Jughead Jones knows how to skip, and we absolutely were not holding hands, what is this a Nicholas Sparkes book?" Olivia dumped her new books on her vanity and collapsed onto her bed opposite Veronica who simply leant back on her elbows and looked at her expectantly.

"Okay, okay, he walked me downtown, there's this great little bookstore down there and I needed a guide, and no, before you ask, nothing happened."

Veronica hummed in response. "Not the response we were hoping for, but not unhopeful."

"I'm glad you're so invested in my love life, V" Liv rolled her eyes at her sister and then paused. "….wait, who's we?!" There was silence then, punctuated only my Betty's voice chirping from under Ronnie's butt: "Hi Olivia! Please don't be mad!"


	7. Chapter Seven: Scuffed Chucks

Jughead Jones was not the kind of person who checked his phone religiously, he was definitely more the kind of person who forgot that it existed for days at a time, so the fact that he had checked it twice in the last hour horrified him, but who could blame him when an hour ago he'd opened it to find a message from Olivia Lodge had flashed up nearly 40 minutes previously.

 ** _"So you said Pop's was your home away from home but when we stopped by to pick up our takeaway order you were nowhere to be seen. It's Friday night and I have a feeling I'll be craving a late night milkshake once my mother clocks off, if I happened to have an extra Strawberry extra cream would you be tempted to join me?"_**

Jughead couldn't help but smile at the idea that she'd been looking for him when she came into Pop's, he'd secretly been bummed that he'd had to work this evening as the promise of a milkshake with Olivia had been bouncing around in his skull since she'd proposed it, sure she'd forgotten he had resigned himself to working and now he couldn't think of anywhere he'd rather be less.

 ** _"Working till late, I'd ask if there's any chance of a raincheck but I doubt an offer that good comes up twice"_**

He'd meant it to sound offhand and maybe a little humorous but the longer he thought about it the more desperate it sounded in his head, he was just about to fling his phone at the wall when it lit up:

 ** _"How late is late? I've yet to see Riverdale after dark."_**

He chuckled then, out loud, more relieved than he would ever admit, even under pain of death. He wasn't too proud to reply immediately.

 ** _"Last showing finishes at 11:30, I can be there by midnight, hopefully the shakes aren't too melted"_**

The '…' that symbolized Olivia typing flashed back up almost as quickly as he was sure his did.

 ** _"Try not to keep me waiting Jonesy, I might not leave you any."_**

He was glad no-one shared his booth with him to see the grin that split his face then, he could hardly remember a time in his life when he'd smiled so much.

She was immersed in a well-loved book when he finally arrived at Pop's, the clock above the counter reading 12:01. Her distraction gave him a moment to study her as he made his way to the back booth she had claimed. Olivia had grabbed his attention the way no-one else had before, it had irritated him at first, the way he looked for her face around every corner but pretty quickly he was too fascinated by her to care. Her hair shone glossy in the neon lights, snaking lazily over her shoulders and spilling over her chest, half obscuring the fitted emerald green sweater she wore over a pair of high-waisted jeans, her eyes were wide and her pink lips were parted slightly, moving the tiniest amount to let him know that she was mouthing the words in the book before her. She was heartacheingly adorable and his feet drew him to her before he was quite done drinking his fill of her.

As he neared the booth she blinked a few times like she was waking from a dream and looked up at him, a true smile breaking across her face, remaining for the moment free of the smirk that so often twisted it.

"Almost on time Jonesy, I thought for sure you were going to be late." She dog-eared her novel and set it down so he could read the title: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. It took him a second to find his voice so he played for time by slouching into the booth opposite her.

"One thing you have to learn about me Olivia is that I don't mess around when it comes to free milkshakes." Pop appeared then with a tray laden with milkshakes and baskets of fries and onion rings.

"I hope you have no objection to the addition of fries" She chuckled and thanked Pop as he shuffled off.

"On the contrary, fries are the ideal counterpart to milkshakes, just so long as you don't…" He paused to watch Olivia dip a fry into her own shake, a cardinal sin where Jughead was concerned. "…do that, gross" He mimed choking and Olivia laughed at him.

"This, is a delicacy, only made better by the quality of fries and shakes served in this fine establishment." She dunked another fry and bit it with relish giggling at Jugheads scandalized expression.

The conversation flowed freely and easily between them, moving smoothly from books and films they had both enjoyed, the classes they liked at school and their hopes and dreams for after graduation, they were so engrossed in conversation that Olivia hardly noticed when her phone flashed with an incoming message and it was only when it vibrated its way up to the stack of empty milkshake glasses (they had had more than Olivia would be admitting to her twin) causing it to buzz harshly against the glass that Olivia paused to check it.

"Has your mom noticed your missing?" His tone was casual but the idea of getting her into trouble wasn't one he cherished.

"Hell no" She smirked, not looking up from where she was typing at the speed of light. "She'll have passed out with a fistful of Valium hours ago. No, this is my incredibly nosey twin, growing more and more impatient about my lack of updates." Jughead choked out a laugh at this, bewildered by the fact that Veronica had taken such a keen interest in their nighttime activities, he checked his phone and balked at the time, sure enough a peek out of the window confirmed his suspicions, it was almost dawn, they had been in Pops for hours.

"Best not to deprive her of the chance to interrogate you then." Jughead said, standing and offering her his hand, she took it, hopping lightly up and past him towards the door. She was shorter he realized, turning to see she had opted for a pair of battered blue Chucks instead of the stilettos she favoured during school hours, and she left behind a trace of that same lavender-vanilla perfume he had been so intoxicated by the night of the dance.

"You coming Jonesy?" She called from the door smiling sweetly, he knew she only meant out into the cool night air, but in that moment, framed as she was by the warm lights of the diner, in her jeans and Chucks, with sleepy eyes and a sweet smile…. He would've followed her anywhere.

"You know you really didn't have to walk me home" Olivia said, her voice quiet and soft in the early morning as they tuned onto her block.

"Pfft, what kind of gentleman would I be to keep a lady up all night talking and then not at least walk her to her door?" Maybe it was the early morning or the 3 milkshakes he'd drank but he was seized by bravery and reached down to link his pinkie finger with hers, not quite holding her hand, but not quite not holding it either. Olivia paused then, just a few stoops down from her apartment and turned to look up at him, he had been joking when he'd called her Shorty before, hoping with some kind of elementary school logic that it would annoy her, but he was suddenly struck by just how much smaller she was than him without her heels on. She was searching his face for something and after a moment it was clear she'd found it, she smiled softly, tilted her head ever so slightly and in that moment Jughead was sure that she was going to kiss him. But when he closed his eyes the only sensation that came was one of the cold morning air wooshing over his face, his eyes snapped open to see her land an immaculate roundoff a few steps down from him and grin cheekily over her shoulder at him.

"I never kiss on the first date, Jonesy!" She called over her shoulder as she ascended her front steps. Despite himself he felt a grin slide over his face and just before she opened her front door he called back to her.

"So just to recap then, this was definitely a date?" He was rewarded by a smile he hadn't yet seen from Olivia, one that heated something low in his belly despite the brisk morning. It was a long walk back to the drive-in, but Jughead found he had plenty to think about.


	8. Chapter Eight: A Little Too Cliche

"What is up with you today, Jug?" Archie's eyebrows were raised and pinched together slightly, the universal Archie sign of 'you're doing something that's confusing me', as he stared at him over the booth they were sharing lunch in at Pop's.

"What do you mean? I'm totally fine dude." Jughead grabbed his coffee mug, more to have something to do with his hands than because he wanted a mouthful.

"I could totally believe that except for the fact that every time the door opens you look over like you're expecting Quentin Tarantino to walk through it. What gives?"

"Maybe Tarantino will walk in, he's notoriously unpredictable." Jughead shrugged and leaned back onto the booth in what he hoped was a nonchalant way.

"And now you're avoiding the question." The crease between Archie's eyebrows disappeared and he started to grin, "Is there a girl?"

"What?! What the hell would put that kind of ridiculous notion in your head?" Jughead was doing what he hoped was a good imitation of his surprised face, but as he hadn't had much practice faking it he couldn't be sure of how well he was doing, evidently not well if Archie's next words were any indication.

"Dude, you've only ever not given me a straight answer once and that was a year ago when I asked you why you were suddenly so interested in the Pussycats and you had that same stupid expression on your face that you have now when I caught you staring at Valerie. Who is it? Is it Val again?" Archie mirrored Jughead, leaning back against the booth, he tucked one arm behind his head, clearly pleased with himself. Jughead sighed, there was little point in lying to Archie, he clearly knew him well enough to be able to immediately tell.

"It's Olivia Lodge..." he trailed off, watching Archie carefully for a reaction.

"A Lodge? I mean they're both super hot, but she struck me as a little bit prissy princess for your taste Jug?"

"I thought so too man, but... I dunno, there's something about her, this fire in her, this kinda wildness. Plus she's really not a princess, I dunno, she's hard to explain and..." he trailed off then, lowering his hands which, he realised with belated embarrassment, he had been waving around to illustrate his point.

"...and that is what has you hooked so hard. The mystery of Olivia Lodge, not a bad title for your next novel." Archie laughed then, and leant forward to rest his elbows on the table, smiling at the pained look on Jugheads face. "So what are you gonna do man? Have you asked her out yet?" Jughead chuckled.

"We kinda went out already, last night. But I dunno..." Archie raised his eyebrows, pressing him on with a look.

"She's a Lodge, she may not act like it but she's a New York heiress, accustomed to the 'finer things'" he inserted air quotes around his words with his tone and continued, "Isn't it all just a little too 'Princess and the Pauper' cliché to be real?" Archie's face assumed a smug grin then;

"I dunno man, if you think what you're feeling is real then maybe you owe it to yourself and to her to figure out if it is." Jughead took a long look at Archie before rolling his eyes and grinning.

"Gross, you're like Hitch and Yoda had a weird love-wisdom baby." They both laughed and thankfully the weird, serious moment passed and although Jughead was glad it was over, he was also inspired by the advice he had received, even though it came from an unlikely source. He waited until Archie headed home before he opened up the Bijoux website on his phone and double checked the screenings for the night before he started sending a text.

.

Olivia hadn't told her mother about her new job at the bookstore downtown, hadn't known how to explain her sudden urge for a little more independence and honestly hadn't been totally sure how Hermione would have reacted even if she did. She had been babied by her mother for as long as she could remember, and she knew it was because of her mothers perceived frailness of her younger child. Olivia wasn't sure how to ease her mother into accepting her as an adult, so for the moment she decided to simply not try.

Saturday afternoon was her first shift at the bookstore, the aging owner Mr. Bloom was looking for someone who would be able to handle the bookstore a couple of evenings a week and every other Saturday to give him some time with his sick wife and occasionally their grandchildren, but for today at least he was there to teach her what she needed to know.

The store was of modest size, but it was filled with squishy armchairs and row after row of heavy fiction novels and cookbooks and it smelled of leather and coffee and printer ink, in short it was Liv's idea of paradise. She had spent the last few hours unpacking new stock and finding its place on the wooden shelves, Mr. Bloom had said that it was the fastest way to acquaint her with the stock and she agreed, after 2 hours she had a pretty good idea of what was in stock and where it was. But now Mr. Bloom was calling her up to the tiny counter, big enough for a heavy old-fashioned till, a little pot overflowing with Orchids and an order book but not much else.

"I'll just show you how to work the till and then you can go, Olivia, you'll need to know how to work it before you come in on Tuesday afternoon." Olivia liked Mr. Bloom, he was a cheerful man with twinkly eyes.

"No problem, Mr. Bloom, show me the ropes!" He chuckled at her enthusiasm and then stepped her through the simple register, the machine was ancient so it was absurdly simple, Olivia had picked it up and was ready to leave before she knew it.

Stepping out onto the street, bag in tow, she clicked her phone on for the first time since she started work and waited for the screen to load up. Three texts whizzed in immediately, predictably all from her mother checking in on her and Ronnie, thankfully her twin as always had been game to play her ultimate partner in crime and had told their mother that they were going to Betty's house to study and had been covering for her in the family group chat. They weren't due to head home for a few hours still and Liv knew Ronnie wouldn't be in any hurry to get home on a Saturday night, she could text B and V and meet up with them, but as she wandered further from the bookstore she started to idly wonder what Jughead was up to.

Ugh, but how predictable to ask him out twice in two days, no, she would call Veronica and get some much needed girl time in, she flicked into the text app on her phone and started to type, but before she could hit send a text whooshed into her inbox causing her to grin like a Cheshire cat.

" ** _Looks like there's a Harry Potter movie showing at the Bijoux tonight, some anniversary nonsense, but then I thought to myself, I do know a particularly cute nerd who I'm certain would be very excited to sit through that kind of torture with me, let me know if you're free"_**

She considered texting him back, but realized that if he wasn't at work there was only one place Jughead could be and luckily Pops was only a couple of block from the store.

The "..." that indicated Olivia was replying had popped up and disappeared at least 10 minutes ago, leaving Jughead feeling a little stressed that he had overstepped himself, assuming a level of comfort between them that wasn't there, he was just about to send a second message when an expensive handbag was dumped unceremoniously over the back of the other side of his booth, followed shortly after by a tiny, grinning Latina.

"Honestly I'm personally aggrieved by the fact that you consider Harry Potter torture." She said by way of greeting. Jughead could only choke out a laugh in response, surprised, as he always was, by her casual and blunt way of moving through the world.

"It's the second one though, universally agreed to be the absolute worst one." Having never successfully annoyed her up until this exact moment Jughead couldn't have been prepared for the unique pleasure of watching Olivia Lodge seemingly swell with indignation, her amber eyes widened to Disney proportions, her cheeks flushed and her pretty lips formed a perfect 'o' of astonishment. She leant forward, her hair, bound back for once into a long ponytail rushing forward over one shoulder.

"Now you listen here Jughead Jones, you're going to be the third and final Jones if you keep slandering Harry Potter like that." She stared at him a moment longer before cracking a wide grin. "There's just no accounting for taste in this backwater town is there?!" Jughead chuckled and leant forward towards her,

"You are terrifying, I thought you were about to reach over here and suck my soul out for a second there."

"I still might" She whispered, her eyes flicking briefly to his lips before she leant back. " How long until our movie?" She asked, pleased to see a light flush blossoming high on Jugheads cheeks before he cleared his throat,

"Still an hour before we have to leave, it's a bit of a walk sorry." Olivia giggled,

"Plenty of time to grab a shake then, and don't worry about the walk, I'll call Smithers to give us a ride." She hopped up and bounded over to the counter to give Pop her order, he couldn't hear what she was saying but she had the old man laughing within moments, clearly charmed by her.

"You and me both Pop" Jughead murmured to himself, sliding his laptop off the table and into his bag.

.

Jughead was uncomfortable, Olivia wasn't entirely sure why but she had a feeling that it had something to do with her private car and driver appearing at her beck and call. It was kind of sweet how nervous it obviously made him, but she didn't love to see him squirm like this. She reached over to him and laid her hand on top of his,

"You get used to it." She murmured, smiling at him.

"What's there to get used to? I drive around in fancy town cars all the time." His eyes betrayed him but his lips twisted into a smirk despite himself, he turned his hand over beneath Olivias and laced his fingers through hers, secretly delighted by how small her hand felt in his and when he felt her pulse quicken where their wrists were pressed together he couldn't help the grin that spread over his face.

"Now this I could get used to" he whispered to her as the car pulled to a stop in front of the cinema.


	9. Chapter Nine: You Don't Think I'm Cute?

For someone who insisted that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was one of her favourite films, Olivia sure had been to the toilet a lot during it. Left alone to suffer for the third time already before anyone had even seen the giant snake, Jughead had to contemplate whether he wanted to commit to someone who had a bladder the size of a squirrel and couldn't sit through a single film without relieving herself multiple times. But then she came back, wiggling between the family beside their seats to rejoin him and linking her hand with his practically before she had sat all the way down again, Jughead couldn't help but smile.

Olivia put on a hard exterior for the rest of the world, a shiny, glossy carapace, to protect herself, he suspected, from the backlash of her fathers sentencing. But the longer he spent with her, the more the shell seemed to slip and the more glimpses he saw of what he was starting to think of as 'the real Liv'. She liked extra ice-cream in her milkshakes, she sighed over romance novels and…. And as it turned out she covered her eyes during the giant snake scene in Harry Potter. Jughead may have rolled his eyes but he couldn't tear them away from her for too long.

.

The theatre emptied quickly after the final scene and Olivia and Jughead were swept out along with the crowd spilling out into the cold night air.

"Truly a masterpiece, I cannot for the life of me fathom how you could not love that film Jonesy." She smiled back at Jughead as she skipped down the front steps, ponytail swinging cheerfully behind her. Jughead grimaced at her, tucking his hands into his pockets as he followed after her.

"How could you possibly know, you only saw half of it. I spent most of the night entertaining the kids next to me." He chuckled at the look of indignation on her face as she turned to him and stopped.

"I told you not to get the extra-large cola! I have no self-control!" she replied rummaging in her bag for her phone.

"I really didn't think someone as tiny as you would drink so much…." He trailed off at the look on her face. "Hey, what's wrong? You look like you saw a ghost. Liv!" Olivia was staring at her phone with wide eyes as she scrolled through whatever messages she had received while they were in the cinema and had sat down heavily on the bottom step of the stairs, massaging her temple with one hand. Jughead crouched down in front of her and laid his hands on either sides of her thighs watching her face with concern. "What is it?" He repeated.

"Just my mother absolutely losing her mind, I guess Ronnie went home without me." Her fingers were moving at the speed of light of the screen as she fired back a text. "Luckily she said we were together until an hour ago so I don't have to lie too much." Jughead felt his heart sink, of course she'd have to lie about being out 'slumming it' with him." Liv looked up at him when he didn't reply.

"She doesn't like me going anywhere without her express permission Jonesy, no need to look so forlorn." She stroked one hand over the one he had left on her knee and smiled softly at him when he met her eye "Sorry about my tiger mom, she's mostly fine but unfortunately where I'm concerned she can go from 0 to psychopath in about 3 minutes."

"She sounds like a total delight." Jughead smirked at her lacing his fingers through hers. Olivias phone lit up and started buzzing.

"Speaking of total delights." She rolled her eyes at him and stood up to stalk towards the street.

Jughead watched her pace the sidewalk, one hand waving as she talked her mother down from whatever emotional cliff she was flailing on the edge of, he didn't want to feel sorry for her, knew she would probably deal out some solid physical pain if she caught a whiff of sympathy on him, but still…. To be so sheltered that you couldn't even tell your mother that you were going out with anyone other than your sister….

"Crisis averted" She smoothed a hand over her ponytail as she came back over to him, stuffing her phone back into her bag with her other hand. "My mom has been on edge lately with the whole Jason Blossom thing and my dad, not to mention that she lives her life on edge because she's a lunatic." Just like that the tension that had brewed since Liv had pulled her phone out was broken, Jughead laughed and stood to tuck her under his arm.

"So, do I have to get you home post-haste?" he said, as they started to walk down the street together.

"Well I did negotiate going home by my actual curfew, which I didn't feel was too much of a stretch but did have to bribe her with mother-daughter mani-pedis tomorrow to swing it, so the night is still ours, at least until midnight."

"Well then! The world is our oyster my lady, where to shall we set the compass?" Jughead spoke cavalierly, casually, but secretly having Liv tucked under his arm, feeling how perfectly she fit in the hollow of his shoulder and smelling her heady lavender scent was causing his heart to race. The way she was smiling up at him didn't hurt either, once again he was sure she would kiss him but Smithers took that moment to pull the car up to the curb. Liv laughed and Jughead was delighted to hear the breathlessness of the sound.

"Our carriage awaits, Jonesy, to Pops?" Jughead relinquished his hold on her in order to beat Smithers to her door and opened it for her, flashing her a wink.

"To Pops."

.

Olivia was absolutely fascinated by Jughead Jones, his floppy midnight curls, bright smile and devil-may-care attitude were only a small part of that. He saw the world for what it was, and more importantly he saw her for what she really was. Not the pampered princess that her peers saw or the fragile china doll her parents had always seen her as, he saw her heart and he didn't flinch, and that mesmerized her.

She had bribed Smithers to let them walk home, and he had smiled, winked at her and told her he would pick her up on the corner of their block at 11:55 and not a second later, she had been right to trust him. They walked in silence for the moment, their breath fogging the cold night air, fingers entwined as they wandered through the sleepy Riverdale, taking their time, in no rush for the evening to end. Olivia was the first to break the silence, her voice soft in the evening air.

"There's something about you Jonesy." She stroked her thumb over the back of his hand "Something about you feels like coming home." She turned her head slightly to see him smile, almost wistfully and then stop walking, pulling her to a stop beside him.

"Would you consider tonight our second date?" He asked, a smile twisting the corner of his mouth as he reached up and cupped her face with one hand.

"I would" She replied, her teeth flashing in the moonlight.

"So, to clarify, this is no longer our first date?" His other hand released her fingers and reached up to cradle the other side of her face.

"Correct" She laughed breathlessly and moved a little closer.

"So, if my calculations are correct, that would mean I… could kiss you now?" She didn't close her eyes as he moved closer, he noticed with not a little delight, she watched him, her eyes lit with a fire that matched his own. His lips were a hair from hers when he whispered "It's a shame I don't kiss on the second date then." He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and then he was gone, running up the street laughing and after a beat she tore after him, chasing him through the yards of Riverdale, breathless with suppressed laughter, trying to stay quiet to avoid attention. He made a mistake as he rounded a corner, he misjudged the angle and slid out and in the second he took to regain his balance she was on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and forcing him to the ground beneath their joint momentum. He groaned as she landed on top of him, but he couldn't deny for a second how good it felt to be pinned beneath her, her candy sweet scent in his nose, her silky hair tickling his neck and her quiet, breathless giggles in his ear. She lifted her head so her face hovered centimeters above his,

"You know playing hard to get is only cute when it's me." She pursed her lips to stop herself from laughing. He grinned up at her,

"Oh really?" She felt him tense a second too late to stop him from flipping her off of him and pinning her beneath him in much the same way as she had pinned him. "So you don't find anything cute about me at all?" He pressed a kiss to the corner of her jaw, just above her throat and felt some archaic part of himself roar as he heard her breath catch. She reached her hands up, one lifting his beanie and the other knotting fingers through his raven curls.

"I didn't say that…." Her voice thickened, whispering her words.

"Good, because I don't think I could break my second date rule for anyone who didn't at least think I was cute" his voice was deeper than it normally was, though still rich with suppressed humour as he lowered his face and captured her lips softly with his own.


	10. Chapter Ten: Last Picture Show

"I cannot believe you spent the entirety of last night making out with Jughead Jones." Ronnie was sprawled across the lounge opposite Olivia, examining her new manicure.

"I've told you, V, we weren't making out, it was one kiss and then my alarm went off to meet Smithers so our mother wouldn't spiral into the void again." Olivia's tone was droll but Veronica saw the sweet smile that twisted her lips.

"Gross, you actually like this dweeb." Her words were harsh but her voice was full of laughter and when Olivia looked up at her from the homework on her lap she saw that Ronnie's face matched her voice, a genuine smile lighting up her sharp features. She unfolded herself off of her lounge and padded over to where Liv was reclining and deposited herself directly on top of Livs Biology notes.

"Ronnie you lunatic!" Liv laughed and slapped at her twin before trying to lever the paper out from under her unsuccessfully "What do you wantttt?" She whined slumping back against the sofa in defeat.

"You know I am all for extracurricular romance, but if it's serious just make sure you're in control, you know I'll smack him down if he hurts you." Ronnie's tone was teasing but there was a sharpness in her eyes that told Liv she wasn't completely teasing. Liv rolled her eyes at her twin and grinned at her.

"No need to go all Kill Bill on me V, we're just hanging out, it's nothing serious." The thing about having a twin is that you know them as well as you know yourself, and Veronica knew Olivia, knew that when she was lying she had a tendency to pick at her bottom lip… Just like she was doing at that exact moment. Ronnie watched her with a wry look and was about to pounce on her when mercifully her phone buzzed.

"Ah, the Red Phone beckons, who summons your attentions this fine evening?"

"Oooh, the perfect opportunity to put my beautiful twins feelings to the test." Ronnie had a way of filling Liv with dread with the shortest of sentences. "Dinner at Pop's, you, me, Betty and Kevin" Veronica popped off the couch and strolled out of the living room, calling over her shoulder as she went "And dear Jughead of course!"

Olivia slid sideways on the couch, curling up on her side and hugging her knees to her. "Why was I cursed with such a psychopathic twin?" She asked out loud to the empty room.

.

An hour later found the twins crammed companionably into a booth, Jughead, Olivia and Betty on one side and Kevin and Veronica facing them.

"The Drive-In closing is just one more nail in the coffin that is Riverdale. No, forget Riverdale, in the coffin of the American dream. As the godfather of indie cinema, Quentin Tarantino, likes to say…" Olivia had never seen Jughead like this, passionate, fierce and not a little angry. She was filled with the urge to soothe his frazzled edges but with her sister watching her like a hawk from across the booth she settled for catching his eye and smiling sadly at him.

"Please, God, no more Quentin Tarantino references." Kevin cut in exasperatedly, Liv got the feeling that this rant had been going for a while before they had arrived, long enough for Jugheads favourite director to be dragged up a few times.

"What? I'm pissed." Jughead replied hotly, flailing his hands on the boothtop "And not just about losing my job, the Twilight Drive-In should mean something to us. People should be trying to save it."

"In this age of Netflix and VOD, do people really want to watch a movie in a car? I mean, who even goes there?" Veronica replied, her tone reasonable and not a little impatient.

"People who want to buy crack." Kevin's answer sounded serious but his eyes sparkled with humour.

"And cinephiles, and car enthusiasts. Right, Liv?" Jughead looked to her hopefully, needing backup.

"Totally." She reached one hand toward him under the counter and slid it reassuringly over his knee, squeezing gently, his eyes softened and though he turned them quickly away from her, his fingers appeared beneath the booth and tangled with hers.

"Anyway, it's closing because the town owns it, but didn't invest in it, so when an anonymous buyer made Mayor McCoy an offer, she couldn't refuse." Jughead couldn't let go of this just yet it would seem.

"Anonymous buyer? What do they have to hide? No one cares." Veronica was barely trying to hide the irritation from her voice now.

"I do! Also, you guys should all come to closing night, I'm thinking American Graffiti Or is that too obvious?" he was resigned to it, trying to make the best of it.

"I vote for anything starring Audrey Hepburn. Or Cate Blanchett." And Ronnie was relieved they were almost finished talking about it.

"Or The Talented Mr. Ripley." Kevin chimed in sharing a cheeky grin with Veronica.

"Betty, your choices?" Jughead asked the quiet blonde. She looked up slowly like she was waking from a dream.

"Everything okay, B?" Veronica asked, concerned all of a sudden, as if just realizing that Betty hadn't really spoken since they had all piled into their booth.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking. Um Maybe Rebel Without a Cause?" she smiled weakly at Jughead and he chuckled before turning finally to Olivia.

"How about you ShortStuff? And don't say Harry Potter." Liv raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow at him an amused smirk twisting her lips.

"I wasn't going to Jonesy, you insufferable ass." Any sting in her words was immediately soothed by her hand stroking over his knee again. "I know you're all rocking a theme here but surely the last night of any cinema should be heralded out by the greatest film of all time…"

"I said not Harry Potter Shorty" He said in an amused, long-suffering tone.

"I don't mean Harry Potter, I obviously mean Temple of Doom… Indiana Jones, duh!" Olivia looked around the table for support.

"Genius" Kevin replied "Harrison Ford is the hottest of the hot, plus action, mystery, romance, you just cant go wrong."

"I guess it's decided then." Jughead chuckled "Outvoted in my own booth." But he didn't look displeased, indeed he seemed heartened by everyone joining in to decide the best way to give the drive-in one final hurrah.

"Here you go, kids." Hermione chose that moment to appear with their snacks, smiling around at them.

"Thanks, Mom." Veronica replied with a cheery grin as Hermione left them to hand out more orders.

"If I would have known Mama Lodge was working as a waitress at Pop's, I never would have given Veronica a spot on the Vixens, it's off-brand, and sends a false message about acceptance." Jughead felt Olivia stiffen beside him as Cheryl's words, barely legible, drifted over.

"After her TMZ-style take-down of Chuck, all the Vixens kind of like Veronica now."

"Do they? Be sure to put all that cash in the register. You are a Lodge, after all, and Lodges are known to have sticky fingers." Cheryls voice was louder now, no doubt to ensure that everyone could hear her humiliating the twins mother. Liv stood suddenly, or tried to, her knees knocked the underside of the table hard and she was jolted back down to sitting before she twisted and started over the back for the booth. Jugheads hands caught her by the waist before she got too far and she stilled enough to hear the razor sharp warning in Veronicas voice

"Cheryl…"

"Honey, I got this. Cheryl, I went to school with your mother, she didn't know the difference between having money and having class, either." Jughead saw in that moment where the twins had inherited their steel from, he hadn't appreciated before how proud or strong Hermione was.

"Now, that's an odd combo of people." Kevin broke the tension at the table, pointing out where Archie and his dad had just walked in with an older woman.

"Archies mom?" Olivia asked Jughead quietly, puzzled as to why that would be an odd combo. Jughead chuckled, a humorless sound.

"That's not his mom, Liv, that's his music teacher, Miss Grundy? You must've seen her around school?" Now that he mentioned it, she did look familiar.

"I'll be right back." Betty stood suddenly.

"No. Betty, No." Jughead tried to get her to sit back down but she was already gone, leaving Jughead looking out of the window, his face stressed. Soon they were all looking out the window, watching Betty scold Archie, frustrating when there was no sound to add context.

"What's happening out there? Do we know? Is it about me?" Ronnie burst out suddenly

"I have a strong inkling, and no. Also, I'd let it go." Jugheads voice was deadpanned, annoyed about something though Liv couldn't be sure of what.

"Yes, but you're you, and I'm me. You do you, girl, I'll be back." Ronnie was off in a flash, too quickly once again for Jughead to intervene.

"What was it like before you two got here? I honestly cannot remember." Kevin leaned in across the table, presumably to gossip, but at his words Jughead had turned to look at Liv, a strange intensity in his gaze and Kevin waited a moment longer before clearing his throat and rising muttering something about the bathroom. Jughead continued to stare at Liv, the intensity in his eyes softening but never completely dying.

"What is it, Jonesy?" She tried for amusement but her words came out soft "Something on my face?"

"Just trying to remember…" She must have looked at him quizzically because he immediately clarified "What life was like before I met you…."

She was pleased to say the least and reached for his hand. "I'm sorry about your drive-in, Jonesy, if I had a magic wand I'd use my first spell to make it stay." His face split into a sweet smile at her words.

"Would you mind terribly if I kissed you right now?" His voice was husky as he leant in, his eyes widening as she placed two fingers on his lips to slow his advance.

"On principal, no, however if my obsessively nosy twin caught it I'm afraid her head might spin right around with excitement." If he was disappointed he hid it well with a rakish grin and a light stroke of his thumb over her cheek.

"Fair enough." He chuckled. "Can't argue with that logic." She swiftly kissed him, catching him at the corner of is mouth.

"I'll make it up to you I swear." She smiled at the answering heat in his eyes.

.

Cheryl was in fine form the next day at school, Olivia assumed it was purely because of the smackdown her mother had delivered her at Pop's the night before but when she corned Liv, Ronnie and Kevin in the lounge right before last period it became obvious that she had been withholding her Ace.

"It's this quintessential rite of passage, making out with your boy or girlfriend at the movies." Kevin was musing, he and Veronica standing near the back of the lounge.

"Why don't we go together? I can't promise you any action, but maybe I'll bring you good luck." Veronica asked practically.

"Aren't you going with Liv?" Kevin asked suspiciously.

"I am not, my traitor of a twin will be attending with her beau and leaving me to fend for myself." Ronnie replied, pressing her hand to her forehead melodramatically.

"It's gonna be an emotional night for Jonesy, I can't just leave him to mope." Liv muttered from the lounge she was reclining on beside them, nose deep in a book. Far from being annoyed, Ronnie was mostly secretly thrilled that for the first time Liv hadn't objected to Veronica alluding to Liv and Jugheads involvement.

"Great. Another night, another hag." Kevin sighed equally dramatically, causing Ronnie to laugh. 

"Speaking of hags Veronica." Cheryls voice cut unwelcomely through the empty lounge, "It's so devastating to me that your mother has to sink to such unspeakable lows just to keep those knockoff Hermes bags on your arm. What's next, selling her hair extensions?" Cheryls expression was nothing short of viper-like as she sauntered towards the trio.

"Our mom's a waitress, Cheryl, not Fantine. And your faux concern reeks of ulterior motive. What is it?" Ronnie crossed her arms and surveyed Cheryl scathingly

"Only to remind you both of your place in this school, nay, the town's social hierarchy." Cheryl cut Olivia a disgusted glance then and Olivia felt rage lick at her stomach. She stood sharply, her book falling to the ground from her lap.

"Threatened much? Don't worry. You may be a stock character from a '90s teen movie, but I'm not. And what does any of this have to do our mom being a waitress?" Liv asked, her voice dripping with suppressed anger.

"It's just that I saw her talking to a Southside Serpent last night, in the alley behind Pop's. They were having an extremely heated, intimate discussion. See for yourself." Cheryl had been talking with an air of someone cradling a bomb, and just like that she dropped her nuke and revealed her phone, a clear photo of their mother displayed.

"Who or what is a Southside Serpent?" Ronnie asked, forcing her voice as close to disinterested as she could manage it.

"They're this gang of bikers who pretty much stays on the south side of town. And thank God, 'cause they're sort of dangerous. Drug dealers and petty thieves." Kevin cut in then, seemingly relieved that Cheryl had taken that moment to sass back out of the lounge, her attack run complete.

"Then what was our mom doing with one of them?" Olivia murmured, stepping closer to Kevin and Veronica, so as not to be overheard.

"I dunno." Liv replied, her tone heavy "But I suppose we should find out…"

. 

"Ugh, Who knew working would be so tiring?" Hermione said by way of greeting later that evening as the twins walked through the door.

"Mom…" Ronnie started tentatively as she set her handbag down on one of the lounges.

"Hmm?"

"Cheryl showed us a picture…" Ronnie started, but her words were lost, concern written over her pretty face.

"You were standing behind Pop's with a Southside Serpent. Those guys are thugs, what were you doing?" Liv finished her thought, taking the words out of Ronnies mouth.

"First off, you have nothing to worry about. Come here, sit, both of you." Their mother gestured them closer and pulled them to sit on either side of her. "Now, remember girls, I grew up here. The Southside Serpents may be from the wrong side of the tracks, but I went to high school with some of them. I was just being polite." Hermiones tone was calm and even, her beautiful face untroubled by their concerns.

"Cheryl said it looked like you were arguing…" Ronnie started again, more unsure now that her mother was so confidently rebutting their worries.

"Arguing?" Hermione chuckled "Hardly, he made a lewd comment, and I put him in his place."

"Mom, if you're in some kind of trouble.." Liv leant towards her and grasped one of her mothers hands in her own.

"I'm not. Mijas..." She took Ronnies hand too and pulled them both closer to her "And when have I ever lied to either of you?"

Their mother had soothed their anxieties smoothly and efficiently, but, Olivia thought to herself as she lay in bed hours later, their mother had always been a terrific liar, and she was certain she had seen a flicker of fear in her eyes as they had started to confront her.

"Only time will tell…" She murmured to herself and she turned onto her side and tried vainly to find sleep, having no idea that in that apartment that night, none of the Lodge women would sleep well..


	11. Chapter Eleven: Don't You ShortChange Me

It was still almost two hours before the Indiana Jones screening was due to start, but Jughead wanted a few quiet moments in the projector room before the crush of humanity closed in for the last time. He hadn't realized how important this place had become to him in the last few months, a safe haven in the swirling storm of his life, the one place he knew he could come back to, that would never be closed off to him. And now he was about to lose it, about to lose the one fixed point in his life, although…. Was that true anymore? When he thought of safety, of comfort, sure this place immediately sprung to mind, but so did a whiff of lavender and vanilla perfume and the soft silk of hair on his face.

He sat down heavily on the chair at the projection desk and leant back, sighing. How had it happened? How had this stranger wriggled herself so completely past his defenses? Sure she was adorable, intelligent, kind and strong, but his plans for this year involved him, his laptop and trying to scrape good enough grades to maybe be accepted into a good writing program after graduation, a girl was never part of the plan, and how could it be? The second she started to see the real him, the homeless, wrong-side-of-the-tracks, messed up weirdo, she'd be gone faster than the rest of his family.

Having successfully made himself feel, if possible, even worse, he stood up and started to dig through the box of films on the desk, searching for tonights reels. He heard the door open behind him and his mood worsened even further, without turning he called out,

"We aren't opening for another hour and this room is off-limits to customers." He continued rifling through the box, loudly enough that he almost didn't hear the words that floated across the room.

"Even for customers who have milkshakes?" He would recognize her voice anywhere and suddenly his mood was elevated a thousand-fold. He turned to look at Olivia, who was still standing framed in the doorway, she was wearing a short green velvet dress with a cropped leather jacket on against the cold and her hair shone in the late afternoon sun. She looked incredible.

"I suppose I'll make an exception, but only because you look so beautiful, the milkshake is only enough to get you into the field early." She grinned at him, a wide flash of pearly white teeth, and reached behind her with a foot to pull the door closed as her hands were full of drinks and bags from Pops.

"So, before everyone gets here tonight I just wanted to…" He stepped towards her, relieving her of her offerings and setting them down on the nearest flat surface before taking her gently by the hips, effectively silencing whatever train of thought she was on.

"Before we get onto that, I believe that the last time I saw you properly you made mention of owing me a kiss and as I am feeling particularly wounded by the looming loss of one of my favourite places I was hoping I could negotiate two from you." Her smile was soft and warm as she reached her hands up to tangle her fingers into his midnight curls, nails scratching gently at his scalp, a sensation he had never experienced before but that made his eyelids flutter shut for a moment as he leant his forehead down to press against hers.

"I suppose that I would be open to renegotiating the terms, but only because of your imminent loss and definitely not because you look so absurdly handsome brooding here in the dark" her words were barely more than a whisper as she tilted her face up to meet his. The kiss was completely different to their soft, cautious first kiss, Jugheads lips captured hers with a slow passion, his hands reached up to frame her face before one slid back to bury itself in her silken black hair holding her even closer to him, Olivia gasped at the heat in the kiss before sucking Jugheads bottom lip between her teeth and nibbling on it gently. He groaned and pulled away from her, resting his forehead once again against hers, and took a long shaky breath in.

"You'll be the death of me, kissing like that Olivia Lodge." He murmured, still a little breathless. She giggled and reached up to press her lips firmly against his a second time before breaking away from him completely to pick the food up and begin arranging it on a blanket she had dropped on the floor while they were kissing.

"You're not so bad yourself Mr. Jones, anyone would think you'd had plenty of practice before my timely arrival in Riverdale." She pulled serves of fries, onion rings and burgers out of the paper Pops bags and laid them out carefully on the blanket as he watched bemusedly.

"Liv…. What exactly are you doing?"

"I thought we could have a picnic, I even made you brownies for after" She procured a purple Tupperware container from the bottom of her handbag and shook it at him "Y'know, to make your last night here a little more…. Memorable" She smiled sweetly up at him from the blanket and sitting there, in his most sacred space, lit by the old yellow lightbulbs and surrounded by his favourite foods, just a little concern in her eyes for him and what tonight meant to him… He had never seen anything so beautiful and he was bowled over by the wave of warmth that expanded in his chest. He flopped down next to her and pulled her in close, not kissing her, just holding her tight to him. She didn't question him, didn't wriggle out of his grasp, she just held him back for as long as he needed her and when he finally released her she smiled at him and busied herself by organizing his food in front of where he had sat down and he was glad for it as his eyes felt momentarily damp.

He took the milkshake she offered him and grinned cheekily at her,

"I'm banking that second kiss by the way, you never know when you're going to need a kiss from a beautiful lady." He bit into his burger, she had somehow known that he liked it with double cheese and no pickles.

"I gave you two kisses!" She exclaimed, bumping her shoulder companionably against his and helping herself to the onion rings.

"Please, after that first kiss you cannot think that the other one counts, that was definitely more of a peck and you know it. Don't you short change me woman." Liv giggled and they fell into a comfortable silence as they happily munched through the food Olivia had brought with her.

Jughead still had work to do, but Olivia didn't mind, it was an unexpected pleasure to watch his clever fingers, quickly and confidently fit the reel into the projector, threading the film through the machine and reverently closing the case. She could see in his face the wistfulness that film inspire in him, the magic that he wove for himself in this little booth and it warmed her heart. All too soon he had finished queueing up the film and testing the sound and projector and he rejoined her on the blanket that she had curled up on to watch him.

"So, are you gonna go meet Ronnie and Kevin soon?" He asked casually.

"Well, I couldddd…" She drew the word out coyly, a smirk twisting the corner of her mouth which Jughead couldn't help but return.

"But…?" He prompted when she didn't immediately continue.

"But… I also brought my laptop." She pulled the aforementioned technology out of her seemingly bottomless tote, "If you wanted some company in here…?" she clarified, puling out a copy of Temple of Doom on BluRay and waving it cheerfully at him. Her grin faltered at the expression on Jugheads face, it was one she hadn't seen before and it's intensity was a little intimidating; it wasn't angry, she'd seen that before, he seemed almost…. Sad. She scooted closer to him and smoothed a hand over his cheek.

"What is it? Did I do the wrong thing? I just didn't think you would want to be alo…" She was cut off by him grasping her face in his hands and kissing her, a little roughly but Olivia couldn't say she minded. The kiss was consuming, his hands raced down her body to capture her waist and tug her closer to him. It was over as quickly as it had begun, Jughead folding her into his long arms and pressing her firmly against his warm body.

"No-one….. No-one's ever thought of me the way you do, worried about me the way you do." Olivia found herself speechless, the yearning in his voice broke her heart, she knew Jughead was a bit of a lone wolf but…. She had no idea that he was so lonely. He held onto her tightly a moment longer before leaning back and capturing her face once more between his hands and looking directly into her eyes, his blue orbs almost green with emotion. He pressed another kiss to her lips, softer this time. 

"Liv…" His voice was barely a whisper, filled with reverence and butterflies erupted in Olivias stomach, awakened by the huskiness of his tone.

"Jonesy…" Her voice was a mirror of his, soft and deep, and something that had long been sleeping in Jugheads chest roared to life at the sound of it, he had never wanted anyone the way that the wanted her in that moment…. But it was not to be, a walkie-talkie crackled to life on the desk above them, announcing to Jughead that it was time to start the film.

They lay together to watch the movie, echoing the outside screen as the sync was just slightly off, and while they lay pressed against each other, the electricity in the air had, for now, faded. 


	12. Chapter Twelve: Turned Upside Down

In the days that followed the closing of the Moonlight Drive-In the entirety of Riverdale was on edge, the more time that Jason Blossoms murder remained unsolved, the more the tension built within Riverdale's sleepy borders. And with Jason's memorial fast approaching the town, the school and its teachers and students were rife with anxiety.

Despite the new level that Olivia and Jughead had added to their relationship the previous weekend they had found time for little more than a handful of stolen kisses and heated rendezvous between classes and their other commitments. It wasn't until almost the end of the week that they found a handful of moments to spend together, unfortunately the rest of their friends joined them out on the bleachers overlooking the football field so they were unable to do little more than discreetly press their thighs against each other.

Olivia had worn a silken blouse and short a-line skirt to school that day and when she sat down next to Jughead on the bleachers it rode up just enough that his fingertips brushed against the smooth flesh of her thigh and he swore he could feel sparks beneath his hand where his body met hers. Jughead was so completely distracted by the velvet skin beneath his fingers and his most cherished daydream where they were still on the floor of the projector room at the drive-in that he didn't notice a foreboding presence join them and was surprised when suddenly an unwelcome voice cut through his train of thought.

"Sorry to interrupt Sad Breakfast Club, but I'm here to formally invite you to Jason's memorial at Thornhill this weekend. To my surprise and chagrin, mother added you to the guest-list. In case you're tempted to steal our silver candlesticks, don't. We'll be searching bags." Cheryl Blossom was as pleasant as always, her lip twisting as she handed out the gothic looking envelopes. Olivia all but snatched hers, her fingers curling so forcefully around the missive that it started to crumple beneath her fingers. Betty turned at the sound of the crumpling, smiling at her sadly.

"Hey, try to remember, she is burying her brother." Liv rolled her eyes but she also deflated a little, it was hard not to feel sorry for Cheryl, no matter how hard she made it to see her as a human.

The first bell rung then, heralding them back to the last few periods of their day, Veronica left first, speeding off dramatically after Cheryl, clearly itching to say something to her and the rest of their friends trickled off until it was just Jughead and Olivia, who stayed under the pretense of comparing notes on their English homework for the next period.

"Hey, you doing ok?" Jughead murmured to her as he rifled through his backpack, maintaining their ruse as Kevin and Archie turned the corner around the bleachers, leaving them alone for the few precious minutes before the tardy bell would ring.

"She's just such a witch!" Olivia exploded, standing suddenly and springing gracefully down the raised seats, leaving Jughead to scramble after her.

"Don't let her get to you!" Jughead replied as he caught up to her, catching her wrist in his hand and turning her back to him. "She isn't worth it." Olivia looked up at him, her eyes wild and her face contorted into a fierce frown. She was somehow still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, even in spite of the fact that she looked so fearsome that he had to actively refrain from stepping back from her. Olivia opened her mouth and then closed it tight and took a deep steadying breath in through her flared nostrils.

"You're right, I know you're right. But.." She raised an eyebrow and the shadow of a smirk twisted her lips "I'm sure I would feel just so much better if I lit just a few of her possessions on fire." That surprised a laugh out of Jughead and he tucked her under his arm as they started to wander back towards the campus.

"Okay tiny Satan, I can see we still need to work on your impulse control." She came to a halt so suddenly at the edge of the bleachers that Jughead almost tripped over her. Olivia reached up and pulled his face fiercely down to hers, pressing her lips to his with a heat that he was frankly impressed that she could summon at that speed. The kiss was blindingly fast, a scorching moment of fiery lips and a hint of her sweet tongue and then she was suddenly three steps ahead of him, turning the corner around the bleachers, the kiss so fast that he could have imagined it but for the fact that he could still taste her on his lips.

"You don't seem to mind the lack of impulse control when it's directed at you." Her tone had an edge of snark to it as he caught up to her, but when she turned to him a moment later her eyes glittered with mischief. He laced his fingers with hers and leant down to murmur in her ear:

"That's because when it's directed at me the only thing I'm concerned you're going to destroy is my virtuous reputation." She rolled her eyes and laughed at him before they separated at the door back into the school. Their silent agreement to keep their burgeoning relationship a secret from their peers still in place for the moment.

The night before Jason Blossoms memorial service was the darkest that Riverdale had seen since the grisly discovery of a tortured body in Sweetwater River, but only a few would ever know about how dark it was. It all began at the little bookstore, a few blocks over from Pop's Diner.

Olivia was pretty comfortable closing the store up on her own, she had done it a few times now and being a fast learner, she considered herself something of an old hat at it now after the couple of weeks that she had been working there. Even so, this evening did feel a little spooky. As winter descended over Riverdale the nights came quicker and the days grew shorter, tonight was supposed to be a full moon but wild gusts of icy wind had pulled clouds over the moon like it was being tucked under a fluffy quilt making the night inky black and colder than any night she had yet experienced in Riverdale. The wind pressed hungrily against the windows and that, combined with the revving of motorcycles from the park opposite the store, left Olivia feeling distinctly on edge as she turned out the lights and quietly locked the door. She stepped out from the stoop of the shop, wishing that she had insisted that she be picked up by Smithers, but with Ronnie needing to be dropped at Cheryls, her mother needing to be dropped at work and neither of them aware that Olivia was anywhere but in her room she hadn't been in the mood to press the issue and have to explain where she would be. Liv set off down the street, clutching her phone close to her chest as she hurried down the block towards home, she was sure it was just paranoia but she could have sworn a couple of times that she had heard footsteps dogging her own, but every time she turned to check her back she had been met with nothing but inky shadows. Her steps got faster and she found herself wishing she hadn't worn heels to work, this time she was sure she could hear footsteps following her. She couldn't bring herself to turn and confirm the presence of a stalker, couldn't give in to the fear that was creeping around her heart. And then the worst happened. She turned a corner, praying for a lit street and other humans, but what she found was that she had been being herded.

On the corner were three big men, all wearing heavy leather jackets, faces muffled by balaclavas and scarves, she immediately started to back away, and when she turned to run she finally came face to face with the owner of the footsteps that had been following her. She had no idea who these people were and despite her best efforts her entire body was frozen with terror, before she could get more than a whimper out a huge hand closed over her face from behind, covering her from chin to cheekbone with an awful wet rag. The arms the banded over her chest like iron jolted her from her stupor and suddenly she was a wildcat, kicking, scratching and biting anything within her reach, but it wasn't enough, she took a deep breath to scream, registered the awful cloying sweetness of whatever the rag had been soaked in and her world faded to black. The last thing she heard was the men standing over her cussing that she had torn his face open and the last thing she felt was a grim satisfaction as she sank into darkness.

Not two blocks from her daughters abduction site, Hermione Lodge was facing her own demons. She had been scrubbing the grills down during a quiet minute when the door jingled, signifying a late customer. Despite being exhausted and not at all in the mood to entertain patrons at this point she plastered her best smile determinedly over her weary face and poked her head around the corner to the diner.

"Hello?" She called as she strolled out, delicately slipping her rubber gloves off in the process, suddenly confused as she had been sure she had heard the bell ring but there was no-one in sight. She was about to return to the kitchen when something odd caught her eye, there was no-one in the diner, but there was something that hadn't been there when she had gone into the kitchen twenty minutes earlier.

A plain cardboard box, sitting placidly in the middle of the floor, unmarked and unassuming. Hermione approached it gingerly, curiosity getting the best of her. She lifted the lid slowly, her eyes adjusting to the darkness inside the box, she leaned closer, desperate to know what was inside when suddenly something moved. She leapt back with a yelp, her heart telling her what her brain hadn't yet comprehended. As she stepped closer to the box her fears were confirmed, that was indeed an incredibly pissed off Rattle Snake watching her warily from inside the large box. She pulled a phone out of her apron with shaking fingers and dialed a number she knew by heart, her eyes never leaving the wild animal in the middle of her diner.

"I am here for you, whenever." Fred Andrews murmured to Hermione not fifteen minutes later, having dealt with the box that she had been too frozen with fear to approach a second time. "But why didn't you call the cops or animal control services?"

"It was a message for me from the Serpents. I didn't call the police because I don't trust them, I don't trust half the people in this damn town… Just you." Hermione murmured, her eyes wide with fear, her brain ticking over the ramifications of what had just transpired.

"Which is why you gotta tell me why the Serpents…" Freds voice was gentle but insistent, that didn't stop Hermione from cutting him off, tears in her voice.

"It's Hiram. He owes them money."

"How much money?" Fred asked cautiously.

"Fred. That's between Hiram and the Serpents. Thank you so much for coming here tonight. But I don't want to get you any more involved than you already are." He was being dismissed, he knew that, it didn't stop him from hesitating at the door before he left her alone with her thoughts.

Jughead did his best not to seem overly anxious or keen, but sitting in the pew with his friends and peers, all he could do was watch for the moment Olivia would walk through the door. He was trying his hardest to focus on the mystery of Jason Blossom and on Bettys whispered instructions, but he couldn't help looking up everytime someone came through the door. Not even Archie being emotionally embraced by Jason and Cheryls mother drew his attention, though he did look up as Archie sat in front of him, looking shaken.

"Did she just touch your hair?" Kevin leant forward to whisper to Archie, not working hard to disguise the morbid delight in his words.

"That was really sweet what you did." Betty added, looking at Kevin scoldingly.

"She deserves it more than I do." Archie replied, ducking his head modestly.

"Days like today really put things in perspective, huh? I mean, at least we're here. At least we're alive." Veronicas voice was somber as it joined the group, Jughead suddenly wondering where Olivia was if Ronnie was here, he leant forward to ask her but he was interrupted by Kevins voice:

"Oh, my God, yes."

What followed was 10 of the strangest moments of Jugheads life, as Cheryl poured out her soul to the captivated crowd:

"Welcome to Thornhill. Thank you all for coming. If you'll kindly take your seats. I'd like to start the memorial with a few words about Jason… The last time I saw Jason, I was wearing this dress. I know it's impossible, but I swear, when I put it on, it feels like he's in the room with me. Even though we were twins, I used to demand I have my own birthday party. Until one year, out of the blue, Jason convinced me we had to combine them into one. It wasn't until years later, I found out why. It was because no one wanted to come to mine and Jason didn't want me to know. He protected me. Every single day. I wish, that day at the river, I had protected him. I'm so sorry, Jay-Jay. We failed you. All of us." Cheryl was distraught and Jughead couldn't tear his eyes away, for the moment he was fixated on Cheryl, as everyone in the room was, as powerless to stop watching as motorists during a car accident, attracted like moths to the flame of human suffering.

"I think we'll adjourn now to the Winter Salon for a light supper." Mrs. Lodges voice was tight with suppressed rage and Jughead and Betty took it as their opening to duck upstairs and begin their investigation, Olivia, for the moment, forgotten.

Hermione wasn't unpleased to spot Fred Andrews in the reception of the Blossom mansion, but she was distracted. She had been expecting to see Olivia sitting with Veronica when she arrived but so far there was no hint of her youngest child ever having set foot in the house.

"Hey." She greeted Fred, slightly distractedly.

"Hey." He replied, a tinge of awkwardness colouring his tone as he misread her distraction for disinterest.

"I didn't think you were going to make it." Hermione asked, trying her best to give Fred her full attention.

"Yeah, I got off a little late from work, but, um I did wanna pay my respects." Fred seemed wary but he powered on with the conversation.

"Yeah." Hermione looked anywhere but at him.

"Also, I realized something last night. The bookkeeping position at my company that you applied for? It's still open. No snakes, if you're interested." Suddenly he had all of her attention, whatever she had been distracted by had, for the moment, been forgotten in lieu of this surprising but wholly welcome news.

"Yes, yes, yes. Um, thank you." She exclaimed, joyfully.

"Yeah." Fred seemed pleased by her response but could tell that he had immediately lost her attention as she finally spotted her eldest twin and beckoned her over.

"Oh! There's Ronnie, Ronnie! Where is Olivia, I haven't seen her at all today?" Veronica appeared beside her mother, a confused look on her face.

"Mom, what are you talking about, Liv told me she was coming with you this morning, did she not come home last night?" Hermione felt like a black hole had opened beneath her as the previous night flashed before her eyes. She felt sick to her stomach as she murmured:

"Fred, the snake, it was a warning but not just about me." She met Freds eyes, panic causing tears to fill and spill from her wide eyes. "It's the serpents. Where was Olivia last night after school?" This last question was directed at Veronica who was frozen, staring at her mother, the question roused her.

"I don't know, but I know who will." Hermione lunged forward to grasp Ronnies arm, full mother bear mode in effect.

"Who Ronnie?! Who will know?!"

"Mom! I will find out where she was, you need to get Sherriff Keller and get a search party organized, I will call the second I know anything." Ronnie spun on her heel and took off after the only person who knew her twin better than she did, leaving her mother to scramble into action.

Jughead was scrambling out of Jason Blossoms bedroom when Ronnie appeared around the corner of the hallway that he and Betty were occupying.

"Jughead!" She yelled by way of greeting, the panic in her voice immediately causing Jughead to fear the worst. "It's Olivia, do you know where she was last night?"

"Liv? She was working at the bookstore, she closed up and then I assume she went straight home, she didn't text me but I figured she was just exhausted." Ronnie's face went pale, her voice quivered with her next words and Jughead felt as though his whole world was suddenly turned upside down, he genuinely thought he was going to throw up.

"Jughead….. She never came home last night, no-one knows where she is. It looks…." Ronnies voice caught in her throat then, stumbling over a sob. "It looks like she's been kidnapped… Or worse."

"I know where she is…"


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Learned it From Tekken

Jugheads world spun haphazardly around him, he was suddenly on uneven footing and it took a few moments for Veronicas words to completely penetrate the layers of panic and descend to the logical part of his brain that was still trying to piece together the mess he had suddenly found himself in.

"…my mom is convinced that this snake has something to do with it…" These words snapped him back to the present with dizzying speed, his eyes were suddenly laser focused on Ronnie and the words that were spilling from her lips almost as fast as the tears from her eyes, she was distraught. Jughead seized her by the shoulders in what he belatedly hoped was a comforting grip, noticing for the first time how her eyes were precisely the same shade as Olivias, a fact that twisted Jugheads stomach violently as he suddenly wondered whether he'd ever see her again.

"Snake? Ronnie. Veronica, what snake?" Jughead could feel his hands shaking and willed them to stop as Veronica looked at him, her eyes wider than he could ever recall seeing them.

"There was a snake delivered to the diner last night while my mom was working alone, she didn't say much but I could tell it scared her, she said…. 'it was a warning, just not for me' and then, uh, 'it's the Serpents'." Ronnies tear flowed faster then, she was close to completely losing control, and so was Jughead, suddenly filled with rage. He took a deep, slow breath, desperately trying to steady himself for what he now so saw clearly he would have to do.

"Don't panic Ronnie, it's gonna be ok, I know where she is."

Olivia had no idea how much time had passed between her abduction and when she finally woke up, judging by the aridity of her mouth and the deep ache in her bound wrists though she was willing to bet it had been the better part of a whole day. She was petrified, there was no denying it, she had no idea where she was, why she was there or whether she would ever be returned to her home. Her family's faces flashed before her eyes, her mom and dad, her twin, she felt tears prick behind her eyes and her heart began to race. What if she never saw them again? A set of blue eyes flashed in her minds eye, a sarcastic chuckle rang in her ears… Jughead, she might never see Jughead again. True panic threatened to consume her in that moment. She had no idea where she was, who had taken her or what kind of nefarious intentions they may have for her; she was alone, separated from the people she cared about and had no idea how she was going to get back to them. She was hyperventilating now, succumbing to her panic, her heart was racing and her skin was clammy with sweat and the bag over her head felt like it was pressing against her face, making her suddenly claustrophobic. She could feel her body reacting to the hysteria, could feel the beginnings of an aura blossoming behind her eyes and strangely, this awful sensation is what she needs to put a lid on her terror. The last thing she needs right now is a seizure, best case scenario it will eat into her precious escape time, worst case it may draw attention to the fact that she was awake. Olivia drew in deep lungful of calming breaths, remembering the techniques she had been taught since she was young to lower her heartrate, calm her breathing and soothe the terror that threatened to overcome her. With a calming mind and soothed body, she could begin to plot her escape.

Her head was covered by what felt like a burlap sack and the room beyond it was quiet and cool and damp, she listened hard for any sign of any other human occupying the same space as her and after several long minutes she was satisfied she was alone and set about wriggling the hood off of her head. She was in a basement, she could see the little windows high above that showed her a few inches of weedy cement lit by patchy moonlight, could it really have been a full day and night that she had been trapped here? The room smelled awful, like acrid yeast and decomposing food and Olivia took a moment to be offended by the appalling conditions she had been left in, she didn't like to play the princess card often but honestly… Didn't they know who she was? She shook her head, compartmentalizing the part of her that wanted to gag at the hideous odor of the room and took stock of the logistics of her situation. One door, with a heavy old-fashioned lock above it but little other security, which meant that they were relying on whatever drug was polluting her system and the bonds that held her in place. She moved her attention to her imprisonment, arms bound by the wrists behind her back and an ankle bound to each chair leg was the bad news, but the good news was that they had maladroitly used rope, either through misguided amateurism or too many 80's heist movies and rope… Rope she could work with.

Jughead moved with a cool precision, he couldn't afford to panic, not now. He was on edge, he had already had to wait for the sun to set, had to wait for the drunk, rowdy bikers to slowly pass out and stumble home and it had been agony. He knew the Serpents, knew their often crass manner of dealing with sensitive situations and knew that while most of them tried to keep their operation as 'legit' as possible, that there was some scum who drifted amongst the club, who had a tendency to drag everyone else down with them from time to time. He couldn't help the fear that licked at his guts as he tried not to think of Olivia, alone, afraid, potentially hurt or worse.

" _ **Five Seasons. Room booked under 'Forsythe'. Her medication is there, make sure she takes it. I will be in touch when the situation has been rectified, until then do not move, do not let her be seen.**_ "

Jughead re-read the text message he had received earlier from Hermione. Honestly he was glad that after she learned that he was pretty confident he knew where Olivia was being held and had a plan to get her out she had taken complete control of the rest of the plan. It had been a welcome intrusion as he hadn't had any ideas beyond getting Olivia out of the Whyte Wyrm, hadn't thought far enough ahead to realize that he would need some place to hide her once the Serpents realized she had vanished. Now with a clear course of action in his mind and the moon now well past the middle of it's lazy nighttime wander across the sleepy Riverdale sky he slipped into the shadows of the alleyway behind the Whyte Wyrm and nudged open the back door he knew Tall Boy, one of the lieutenants of the Serpents, often left open as he stumbled out after closing. He slipped in through the door, as quietly as he knew how and eased the door shut behind him, vanishing into the belly of the Serpents den.

Jughead couldn't claim that he was a regular patron of the Whyte Wyrm, having only been here a handful of times as a child, however he did know that the back corridor ended in a deep, dank cellar that would be ideal to keep a hostage in, unseen by prying eyes. He had played there enough as a child, made up stories with his little sister while their father conducted business that he was confident he would be able to find his way down there and that was where he headed first.

The bar was the quietest he had ever known it to be, silent as the grave at this late hour, it made him all too aware of the scuffling of his boots on the stone floor and tried his best to lighten his step. It was because of this intense focus on the sound he was making, straining his ears to catch any answering sounds from the bar or any of the surrounding spaces that he caught the rustle of movement from down the hall. He froze, his heart thundering so loudly that he could hardly hear over it, scarcely daring to breathe Jughead crept closer to the noises which he now suspected were coming from a guard posted presumably outside of wherever they were keeping Olivia. Whoever or whatever it was making the noise had graduated from shuffling on the stone floor to grumbling inaudibly and then he heard it…. The jingling of a set of keys. He picked up his pace, the opportunity was too good to risk missing, if the guard had the keys out then he likely had his back to the corner Jughead was just about to turn.

Now that Olivia was calmer she made short work of the ropes that bound her wrists, clearly these creeps hadn't done their homework if they had no idea how easily a gymnast could contort their body around such paltry restraints as rope, unfortunately her training didn't extend to picking locks so that was where she was where she was stuck when a set of footsteps scuffled outside the door.

The heavy lock scraped open and she barely had time to duck to the wall behind the door before it swung open jerkily, revealing a large, drunken biker who seemed to be in no mood to be awake. Olivia could hear him grumbling as he wandered into her makeshift cell, eyes still adjusting to the darkness she guessed as he hadn't yet reacted to the empty chair and discarded ropes that had, until moments ago, held her in place. The dark-haired woman knew that she was only going to get one good chance at neutralizing this threat and at escaping, if she botched this she would never be left alone long enough to plot another escape, and in any case might be hurt badly enough in punishment to be in no state to attempt it a second time. She had no guarantee that anyone would be coming for her, so in that moment she made a choice, to grasp her destiny firmly between her own two hands.

She waited for the ogre of a man to completely pass the threshold where she waited and then stepped out confidently behind him, planted her feet wide beneath her hips and hissed at him to ensure he turned around, and then, before her courage could desert her or before her logical brain could try to talk her out of this she leapt into action.

Jughead turned the corner in time to watch the makeshift guard sidle into the cellar, his Serpent jacket the only thing visible to him in the dwindling light. He crept closer, desperately wracking his brain for the most effective source of action even as he drew level with the door. He settled on putting the large man in a headlock, it was the only option that made sense with him being so much bigger than Jughead and also potentially under the influence of any of the number of drugs that were often passed around in the dark corners of the Whyte Wyrm. He crouched as he made his decision, preparing to take a running jump at the assailant when a small black shadow appeared between him and his would-be victim, hissed like a snake and then launched a flying attack at the biker, catching him entirely by surprise as he turned to face her.

She leapt forward, kicking the drunkard once, twice and then three times in the chest and face in some kind of wild combo maneuver, the biker maintained his feet for a heartbeat longer before he swayed precariously first one way and then the other before toppling heavily to the ground. Jughead was gobsmacked, he had prepared for what he thought would be any eventuality but nothing could have prepared him for the tiny warrior to turn to face him and for the dim light of the hallway to reveal a familiar face. Jughead was completely shocked to recognize Olivia standing before him, her features pale and drawn, with smeared mascara down her cheeks but otherwise unharmed. How she was free was a complete mystery but he couldn't bring himself to care about anything other than the fact that she was okay. Olivia paused, taking a second to register Jugheads face, entirely unexpected but so very welcome and when she opened her mouth to say something, anything, no words would come and instead a hysterical giggle spilled from Olivias lips.

"Liv!" He whispered in a harsher tone than he had planned on "Are you okay? Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?" Jughead couldn't keep his hands off of her any longer, he scooped her into his arms, clutching her tightly to his chest and fisting one hand briefly in her hair.

"I learned that from playing Tekken" She whispered, her face muffled against his shaking shoulder, "haven't tried it until literally right now so I had no idea whether it was going to work or not." Jughead didn't answer, just kissed her once roughly and then took her by the hand to lead her back up to the dingy alleyway he had snuck in through.

Smuggling Olivia through the sleepy Riverdale streets and into the lobby of the Five Seasons passed in a haze of adrenaline induced panic for Jughead. Unwilling to trust a random cab driver and unable to call Smithers for fear of giving away both her identity and location, they had been forced to race through the backstreets of Riverdale, slowing only when they came across a car or a late night reveler still wandering the streets. It was only when he was finally able to shepherd Liv safely through the door of their suite, which quite pointedly had two beds, thanks Hermione, and lock the door securely behind him that Jughead was finally able to breathe easily again.

Turning from latching the door he found Olivia staring at him, her eyes as wide as a cartoon deer and her face still pale from the shock of her ordeal, he stepped closer to her and ever so gently laid a hand on her cheek.

"It's over Shorty, you're safe now I promise you that, no-one's coming near you while I'm here." He had expected his words, the false bravado he poured over them until they dripped with it, to bring her a faint smile, maybe a chuckle, what he didn't expect was for her sweet face to crumple or for her voice to catch in her throat. She started to collapse to her knees and Jughead was close enough to catch her, to lower them both to the carpet still in the entry to the suite and to hoist her gently onto his lap where he could hold her tightly to him as she surrendered to deep, body-wracking sobs of distress.

Jugheads heart broke then, and the pieces of it that were left filled with earth-quaking rage that anyone could think that it was okay to hurt her like this. He could feel his body shaking with the effort of leashing his feelings but he had no choice, she didn't need his anger she needed his steadiness and his comfort now. He held her close, glad that she was able to trust him with her tears, rubbing long circles over her back and shoulders. He hoped that he was soothing her while he whispered to her, mostly long streams of comforting words, repeated over and over in hushed tones as she cried out all of her fear and exhaustion and panic.

"It's okay, Liv. You're okay, I've got you. I'm never going to let anyone hurt you like that again. Just let it out, I've got you, I'm right here I'm not going anywhere." Like a lullaby he repeated his words in the same gentle tone until she slowly started to calm down.

When she looked up at him, her eyes still wide although not as haunted and blank as they had been a few moments ago, Jughead was overwhelmed with relief, it was finally sinking in that she was here, she was safe and that he hadn't lost her. As he gently brushed her tears away it was suddenly a lot easier to push aside the images that had plagued him, images of Olivia, broken or bleeding, unable to recognize him or simply no longer there. She scrubbed at her face, wiping the last of her tears away and that was when Jughead spotted the delicate bracelets of bruises around her wrists, he didn't look any further up her arms, didn't allow himself to give in to the rage that turned his vision dark and caused his blood to roar deafeningly in his ears, he just took both of her hands in his, handling them like they were made of the finest china or the most delicate silk and peppered them with feather light kisses.

"I must reek" She whispered, her voice cracking either from disuse or the tears "I think I'll grab a shower and try to get the worst off." Jughead wanted to rage and scream so filled he was with fury, but that wasn't what she needed from him so he just cracked a soft smile for her and lifted her gently to her feet.

"I didn't want to say anything but now that you mention it…" He was relived then to see the hint of a smile on her lips. "Your mom sent over some essentials, I suspect that includes your toiletries, take as long as you need I'll be right outside the door waiting for you."

She smiled at him, as close to a true smile as he could hope for in that moment, and then disappeared into the bathroom for what he assumed would be a very long shower.


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Since Pop's

He could still hear sniffles and the occasionally sob over the roar of the shower despite the closed door of the bathroom. He couldn't blame her, she had been through a true ordeal in the last twenty-four hours and frankly if she wasn't upset he would have been far more concerned. Jughead sat down on the bed farthest from the bathroom and made himself comfortable to wait for her. He leant back against the bedhead and couldn't help but marvel at the woman that after the last few hours he was starting to see more clearly; tonight he had been expecting to find her bound and hysterical, in need of a helping hand and a friendly face. He had fancied himself her knight in shining armor, breaking into the stronghold of her captors and rescuing her like a fairytale damsel, it had been an image that in some dark, archaic part of his mind he had been thrilled by. But finding her the way he had, freed from her bonds and dealing out a solid ass-kicking to anyone who attempted to bar her escape, it was an image that would remain with him for the rest of his life. He hadn't realized how fierce she was, hadn't known to look for it under her neat clothes, high heels and perfect hair. He had underestimated her, he realized with some shame, it wasn't a mistake he planned to make a second time.

Even so, he couldn't pretend that seeing those bruises, tattooed reminders of the pain she had experienced branded on her skin, didn't make his fists clench so tight that his knuckles popped and his short nails dug into the meat of his palms. The logical part of his brain understood that he had only known Olivia for a few short weeks, but he couldn't pretend that the way he had felt tonight hadn't happened, couldn't pretend that the feeling of not knowing whether she was okay or not hadn't left his chest feeling like it had been blasted open, that he couldn't catch his breath because there was a fist holding his lungs in an icy grip. Jughead didn't have many answers, but one thing he knew for sure was that he would fight for that tiny Latina with everything in him before he let anyone hurt her again.

Olivia stood under the pounding water, head bowed forward against the shower wall to allow the pressure of the water to soothe her acheing back and shoulders. Tears still streamed from her eyes but they were lost immediately in the swirling water and she knew she was almost all cried out. She felt exhausted in her very bones, her body felt like she had been hit repeatedly by a tank but her mind was still racing, adrenaline still pulsing through her veins as she was possessed by one thought that ricocheted around her head so fast that she couldn't quite grasp hold of it; Jughead had come for her, had found her when she was so sure that no-one could. She had been relieved in a way that she didn't know she could have been when she turned to find him in the doorway of that awful cellar.

"Something about you feels like coming home, Jonesy" She had said to him not long after they first met, and how true that had been, he had tucked her under his arm as they hurried from the Wyrm, trying to conceal her as much as possible with his jacket and his body, and pressed there, comforted by the warmth of him and breathing in his smoky cologne scent, she had felt safe. Even now there was a part of her that wanted to race out of the bathroom to him, to bury herself in him, to experience the security he gave her, but she didn't move. She wasn't sure exactly what she was afraid of, but something about that vulnerability left her anxious to share it with him. She glanced at herself in the mirror and steeled her spine as much as she could through the haze of exhaustion, it was Jughead Jones for heavens sake, there was nothing to be anxious about.

Jughead roused himself from his musings, suddenly realizing that the shower had switched off, the bathroom was quiet save for the padding of her feet as she did whatever women do in the bathroom. As he hadn't spent a lot of time around women, with his mom and Jellybean mostly out of the picture he wasn't afraid to admit that by-and-large the female of the species remained a mystery to him as did their private rituals.

The door opened slowly and Liv appeared around it and the sight of her stole Jugheads breath away. She wore only a fluffy white towel wrapped around herself, her skin was rosy and dewy still from the shower, her skin warm and pink from the hot water and perfumed with the heady lavender vanilla scent that he had come to associate with her. Her hair was damp, clumping into soft coils around her neck and her face was clear of makeup for the first time, leaving her face softer, pinker, her eyes rimmed only by her long natural lashes instead of the kohl she usually favoured.

Jughead didn't move from where he was sitting, so entranced he was by Olivia that he could do nothing but watch her approach him, a blush dusting over her cheeks under his intense gaze. She smiled shyly as she reached the overnight bag that Jughead had set on the ground at the foot of the bed he was still frozen on.

"There weren't any clothes in the bathroom" She murmured by way of explanation for her appearance as she dove into the bag. Her soft voice broke the spell Jughead had been under since Liv had appeared in the doorway and he shuffled down the bed to her, taking the bag from her hands gently.

"Let me do that, you must be exhausted" His voice was equally soft as he lead her to the bed and pressed her gently to sit. "Before you do anything else I promised your mother I would give you your meds as soon as you walked through the door and I already messed that up" He smirked at her cheekily and handed her the bottles of pills and a bottle of water from the mini fridge.

Olivia took them from him gratefully, he was right, the last thing she needed to round off the last couple of days was a seizure. She threw the pills back and followed them with the whole bottle of water.

"That's my girl" Jughead took the pill bottle and the empty water from her hands and set them down on the counter.

"Am I?" He looked back at her then, a quizzical smirk pulling at the edges of his mouth as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"Your girl?" She elaborated, careful to keep her tone casual despite the butterflies that surged in her stomach. Jugheads eyes softened then with understanding, his mouth relaxed his smirk into a gentle smile.

"That is entirely up to you, Miss Lodge" He scooted closer, just near enough to be able to take both of her hands in his and kiss each of them gently, he looked up at Olivia through his lashes, "but since we're talking about it you should know, that I am yours, completely. I think I have been since the first time you swore at me from the ground of Pops parking lot." Laughter laced his words, she stared at him, for maybe the first time in her life Olivia Lodge was truly lost for words and could only gape at him.

"I need you to know that the last 12 hours…." He spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. "They have been the most powerless and afraid that I can remember feeling in a long time. Not knowing where you were, if you were safe…. I never want to feel that way again. Look, I know you can take care of yourself, but it would be an honour if you'd let me look after you a little too. Plus, I'm not too proud to admit that after the way you took care of that guy tonight….. I kind of want you to watch my back for me too." Jugheads blue eyes were wide and Olivia could tell that he was still shaken, but a familiar smirk twisted his lips, letting her know that everything was going to be okay.

It was Olivias turn to splutter out a surprised laugh then as she reached for Jugheads face and tugged it gently down to hers, she didn't have words to describe the soaring feeling that consumed her, but she did have actions.

This kiss was completely different to anything Jughead had ever experienced, in that moment he knew that his entire life would now be divided into the before and after, his whole world shifted and suddenly what tethered him to the earth wasn't his own two feet, it was her. The kiss and the emotions it sent racing through his body split open his universe and in an instant it was rewritten with Olivia Lodge at the centre of it. Heat spread through his body even as the air left it, his head was spinning and his heart raced against his ribs almost painfully. He reached for Liv, drawing her firmly against his body and then easing her gently back onto the bed, taking her waist into his big warm hands and laying her gently, reverently down amongst the silken sheets. He poured all of his worry into the kiss and all of his relief too, it wasn't until this moment that he was able to admit to himself just how beside himself he had been while she was missing.

Liv felt like she was trying to cling to the sun, the heat and the energy that was pouring from Jughead in that moment was more intense than anything she had ever experienced and it was practically all she could do to cling on to him and ride out the wave. Her fingers tangled themselves in the miracle of silk that was his hair, raking her nails over his scalp and then tugging gently at it, pulling him ever closer to her and then tangling her legs with his. She didn't think Jughead could get any more passionate but then he sucked her bottom lip between his teeth and nibbled at it, it was a tender moment and so was the answering mewl from the back of her throat, it snuck out quite innocently but it's effect on Jughead was instantaneous.

His answering growl was barely human, Olivia could hear his breathing grow ragged and could feel the urgency with which he wanted her press against her hip. He pulled away from her to press his forehead against hers, his eyes still pressed closed with the air of someone desperately trying to regain control of himself.

"Olivia…" The word spilled from his lips like a desperate prayer, rough and thick, and Liv didn't think her name had ever sounded so beautiful. She sighed happily and teased her fingers out of his hair to grip the back of his neck and pull him in close but before she could finish the thought her sigh turned to a yawn and Jughead's eyes focused on her.

"You're exhausted" He whispered, pulling back from her causing Liv to whine in protest.

"Not exhausted enough to not want to see where this ends up." She grinned cheekily at him and attempted again to pull Jughead back down to her, but he wasn't falling for it.

"No more from you, temptress, into bed." Jughead coaxed her under the covers and accepted the damp towel she winched out from beneath her body leaving her naked between the sheets. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, his eyes pressed firmly shut as he fought against the desire she summoned within him.

Olivia watched with a kind of feline satisfaction as Jughead turned stiffly from her to march himself determinedly through the door to the bathroom, not allowing himself to look back at her. Once the door was shut however Liv found herself slowly suffocated by fear, she felt vulnerable and afraid, she knew of course that Jughead was right on the other side of the door but in this moment, exhausted and sick as she was, that was too much distance. It wasn't long before he reemerged, clad only in a tight pair of briefs, the rest of his clothes abandoned in the bathroom, face still damp from him presumably splashing water on it. He turned the lights off leaving only the lamp between their beds plugged in and moved to climb into the bed beside the one Olivia had claimed.

"Jonesy…." She murmured, hating herself for her weakness but plunging on anyway as he turned to look at her "Would you… I just, I don't want to be alone. Do you think…." She didn't need to say any more, Jugheads face was awash with tenderness as he came back towards her and climbed onto the bed atop the comforter and lay down beside her. His closeness brought her confidence back with it and she lifted herself onto one elbow to smirk at him. "It is practically freezing, you can't seriously be planning on sleeping on top of the covers?" Jughead looked at her, his eyes wide.

"I didn't want you to think I assumed anything.." He started to say but Olivia silenced him with a soft kiss.

"You're the one who stopped that in the first place." She sassed him lightly "Get under the covers you lunatic, you'll freeze to death."

Jughead slid under the waiting quilt quickly before he let out too much of her warmth and opened his arms to the woman he found waiting for him, she accepted the embrace gratefully, settling her head into the hollow of his shoulder. Olivia was asleep before he could reach out to turn the light out, her exhaustion finally catching up to her but Jughead lay awake a while longer in the dark, marveling at the way her body fit his, like they had been made with the other in mind. Her skin was like velvet beneath his palms and he didn't think he could ever tire of the warmth of her form pressed so close against him and around him, her legs tangled with his. He reached down to hold the hand she had left on his chest and melted when her small fingers wrapped around his thumb, holding it gently in her sleep. Jughead had never felt so alive but even so, it wasn't long before he slipped into sleep, feeling the most satisfied he could ever remember feeling.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Part Of Your Narrative

Dust motes glittered in the still hotel room air as they passed through the pale afternoon winter sun that peeked through the gap in the curtain. Jughead lay perfectly still on his back so as not to disturb the sleeping woman that still lay curled tightly to his chest, sound asleep despite the late hour. So relaxed and full of wonder, was he, at the perfect fit of their bodies that he had not wanted to wake her and end the experience.

The peace of the morning had given him time to reflect on the last 24 hours and now in the quiet of the early evening moment the anger that he had quashed down the night before as Olivia had sobbed all of her fear out in his lap began to simmer at the edges of his consciousness.

Jughead had long been aware of the darkness that slumbered just below the surface of his mind, it had been one of the only things his father had successfully passed on to him and he spent a good part of his early adolescence learning to squash it down and when that hadn't worked, finding a way to channel it through his writing. But in this moment, with Olivias body, so small compared to his lanky form, pressed up against him, the bruises scattered so casually over her arms stark in the late morning glow, the darkness rumbled to life, he was furious and he was battling to keep that under control.

The things Jughead loved had a way of being ripped away from him, unceremoniously and without hesitation; his mom and Jellybean, his dad, his home and the drive-in, and now Olivia….. In the privacy of his own mind he could admit to himself that he loved her, in a way that he hadn't thought himself capable of, and to come so close to losing her….

She stirred in his arms, shifting closer to him in her sleep. He realized that he had been starting to crush her to him as his anger had begun to consume him, he relaxed his grip and gazed at her face which she had turned up to face him as she moved. In her sleep her face was free from the worry and stress of the night before, she was peaceful and secure in bed with him and his heart swelled almost painfully as he realized that it was the fact that he made her feel safe that allowed her to sleep so soundly, allowed her to be so vulnerable in a foreign place, so soon after such a stressful ordeal. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead, unable to stop himself as a wave of affection washed over him.

Her eyelashes fluttered in response, she stretched like a cat against him and her eyes finally opened, focusing immediately on him, her soft mouth spreading into a sleepy smile.

"Good morning sleeping beauty." He murmured to her, his voice still rough from sleep and a day of disuse, "Or should I say good evening" his voice was woven with sarcastic humour as he beheld her. Olivias only response was to reach up and press a sweet kiss to his lips, her hand lazily sliding over his chest and onto his neck. Jughead was suddenly acutely aware of the nudity of his bedmate, her breasts sliding teasingly over his chest under the covers as she leaned over him. He felt his cheeks burn as well as the sudden urgency of other parts of his body, he knew she had noticed as her smile turned distinctly feline.

"Don't we wake up eager" She purred, dropping a soft kiss to his chest and chuckling at the soft gasp that slipped from Jugheads lips.

"Olivia, I…" Sensing the stress in Jugheads tone she looked back up at him, her eyes softening as she noticed his unfocused eyes and hurried breath.

"Don't worry Jonesy, I'm not ready either, I'm just teasing" Laughter laced her voice and Jughead relaxed, pulling her back to his chest and trailing his fingers down her back, as low as he dared.

"I'm not saying I don't want to" he began, the huskiness of his voice now present for an altogether different reason. "But the hotel room your mom paid for, the night after…. I don't want this to be the memory we have"

Warmth spread over Olivia, helped along by Jugheads soft fingers wandering further down the curve of her spine, she pressed a kiss to his throat and allowed herself to be soothed by his touch. Laying in Jugheads arms, his chest bare beneath her cheek and his broad hands stroking soothing touches over her exposed flesh, she was completely at peace, worlds away from the dank cell she had occupied less than 24 hours earlier. She knew that logically she should still be haunted by her ordeal, shouldn't have slept in this foreign place so soon after she had been snatched right off of the street, this peace shouldn't be possible, but it was, because of the man who had held her all night long.

They lay still together, content for the moment to be silent and absorb the moment. The smoky cologne of Jugheads skin was everywhere, and Olivia knew she would be content to breathe nothing but that scent for the rest of her life. Having spent a good portion of her life with her nose buried in books about dashing heroes and fairytales she had thought she had known everything there was to know about matters of the heart. She had been positive of what her life would look like, what the love she would eventually find would be. She has imagined finishing her high schooling in her prim, expensive upstate New York school, she would get perfect grades and take her pick of colleges filled to bursting with excellent writing programs, award-winning history and science curriculums, and globally sought after fashion slates that would be laid out before her for her to take her pick when she finally decided what it was she would do with the rest of her life, she would take a place in an exchange program to somewhere exotic like Australia or Italy or Prague and it would be there that a handsome foreigner would sweep her off of her feet.

What she hadn't expected was for her life to bring her to a small town like Riverdale, hadn't expected to catch her eye on a mysterious, moody, goofy, handsome writer in a painfully American diner, but she had, and there wasn't a single part of her that regretted it, that questioned it. If her favourite books had taught her anything it was that love was the most unexpected of forces, and she was sure now that that was what she was feeling.

Olivia opened her mouth and drew in a soft breath, on the verge of pouring her heart out for him, when his stomach gurgled loudly in her ear. She huffed a laugh and sat up, drawing the sheet over her chest as she sat up and reached for the menu on her bedside table, exposing her back and the curve of her right buttock to Jugheads gaze as she did so.

"Hungry?" Her voice caused Jugheads eyes to snap up to meet hers slightly guiltily as she gazed at him over her shoulder and waved the menu at him. His face split into an easy grin as he realized what she was referring to.

"Always"

The light from outside had faded away as they waited for the hotel staff to fill their order and in the warm glow of the vintage lamps Jughead and Olivia laughed together. They were surrounded by food, every item the Five Seasons offered on its room service menu, too much for the little table so they had spread it out on the floor like they had once done at the drive-in and they were engaged in a playful debate about what Jughead referred to as 'foreign food' as he waved a cannoli at her when his phone vibrated on the dresser.

"Cheese or no cheese, nothing this sweet could be considered not a dessert Jonesy" She giggled as she bit into her own pastry.

"I'm not arguing that it's not a dessert, I'm just questioning who eats cheese and thinks to themselves 'what this could really use is sugar'" He quipped back as he stood and unplugged his phone from where it had been charging. Olivia started to argue back but paused as a frown creased between Jugheads brows.

"What is it? Is everything okay?" She started to stand and Jughead met her halfway, taking her hand and pulling her up to stand before him.

"Everything's fine" He replied with a sigh, smiling down at her a little wistfully. "It's your mom, she says everything has been sorted, she wants you home." Olivia relaxed and leaned her chin onto his chest.

"Then why all the frowning and the sighing?"

"Nothing, I just…" She peeked up at him and he momentarily lost his train of thought.

"You just…?"

"I just kinda liked getting to have you all to myself for a moment. Liked getting to kiss you when I feel like it, touch you and not have to worry about who sees." He gave her a sad smile and Olivia wrapped her arms around him, tugging him close to her. Her heart broke in that moment, she had assumed that the decision to keep their blossoming romance had been a mutual decision, but she realized he had just been following her lead, must have assumed she was worried about what people would think, might have thought she was ashamed of being seen with him. Nothing could be further from the truth.

"Jonesy, you know I've been hiding this for a reason, it's not…"

"No, I get it!" He cut her off, offering her an apologetic smile, "You're practically royalty and I'm, well, not" He laughed and the sadness of the sound was palpable even though he tried to hide it.

Olivia's heart cracked then, he really believed that, really thought he was somehow less than her, he couldn't possibly understand that she had only been trying to protect him. She pulled him onto the bed and sat opposite him, taking his hands in hers.

"When everything went down with my dad, there was media attention, so, so much media attention. Not just on us, our friends, Ronnies boyfriend at the time, even our housekeeper. My instincts, even now are to hide everything, just my dumb way of trying to protect you I guess." She trailed off and stroked her hand up Jugheads arms, she could see that he wanted to believe her but that he was cautious.

"You don't have to lie if it's not the truth Liv, I don't fit in, I get that, I don't fit your narrative, I'll just enjoy every moment until they run out, I'm okay with that." Anger flared in Olivia at these words, not at Jughead, how could she possibly be angry with him? No, anger at every person that had ever made him believe those things, made him believe that he was in any way lacking, in any way not enough.

"You listen to me Jughead Jones. I don't want to be a part of any narrative that doesn't have you in it, you may not be normal but who the hell is?! I don't care what anyone thinks, I don't want to pretend anymore. And I sure as hell don't want any other girls thinking they stand a chance. You are entirely mine, and I am entirely yours. It's about time everyone got with the program." She grinned at him sassily and giggled loudly as he tackled her onto the pillows. He kissed her, long and sweet and then pulled away to smile at her.

"We better get you packed up and into Smithers car"

Jughead couldn't remember a time when he was happier, he may have been preparing to say goodbye to Olivia for now but the way they had left things after their stay in the Five Seasons he couldn't remember feeling more hopeful. He walked Olivia all the way to the door of her apartment and was thrilled that the second Smithers disappeared she pulled his face to hers and kissed him hungrily, he had his hands full of her bags but that didn't stop him from using his body to press her against the wall beside her door, unfortunately before they could get carried away the door swung open to reveal Hermione Lodges harried face who quickly took in their state and then seemed to shake it off.

"Olivia! Oh Mija thank god you're ok! Jughead, I can never thankyou enough, I'll see that Smithers gets you home safely."

Jughead and Olivia didn't get a chance to do anything more than say goodbye before Hermione ushered her in the door.

Jughead settled himself back into the town car, aware that he should have been on cloud nine, but it was hard to pretend that his blood wasn't icy in his veins after hearing the words that Hermione had hissed at him as she closed the door:

"Don't get me wrong Jughead, I am very grateful that you have returned my daughter to me, but you have until exactly graduation to enjoy having my daughter slum it with you, I will not have you ruin her future."

Olivia had just promised him the opposite of that, but could he really expect her to stick to that when her mother was so sure of herself. Jughead wasn't sure he was ready to find out.


End file.
